LOST IN MAYBERRY/MOUNT AIRY: IMPORTANCE OF TOURIST … · 2017. 8. 26. · LOST IN MAYBERRY/MOUNT AIRY: IMPORTANCE OF TOURIST PROFILES IN SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PLANNING by Stefanie

LOST IN MAYBERRY/MOUNT AIRY:

IMPORTANCE OF TOURIST PROFILES IN SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PLANNING

by

Stefanie K. Benjamin

May, 2011

Director of Thesis: (Derek Alderman)

Major Department: M.S. Sustainable Tourism

In sustainable tourism planning it is essential to understand the type of tourist attending and

determine the temporal sustainability or longevity of pop-culture festivals, especially those

focused around film and television. Mount Airy, North Carolina, was physically transformed in

the 1980s to mirror Mayberry, the fictional town of television’s The Andy Griffith Show and is

currently home to the Mayberry Days Festival. This thesis examines the Mayberry Days Festival

to develop a typology of festival visitors and the influence of The Andy Griffith Show on the

attendee’s motivations. Online survey invitation cards were distributed during the 2010

Mayberry Days Festival in order to gather data on the socio-demographic characteristics,

motivations, perceptions, and economic impact of the attendee. Additionally, a framework was

developed to identify and analyze the different tourist profiles based on the attendee’s behaviors

and characteristics to comprehend how sustainable the Mayberry Days Festival will be for

Mount Airy in the future. Results suggest that visitors are drawn to Mount Airy for a variety of

reasons and that The Andy Griffith Show is not necessarily the main motivator. Long term

success of Mount Airy tourism is perhaps linked to building upon it’s small town nostalgic

image which can be independent of it’s association of television.

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A Thesis

Presented To the Faculty of the Department of the Graduate School

East Carolina University

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

M.S. Sustainable Tourism

by


May, 2011

© Copyright by Stefanie K. Benjamin 2011

All Rights Reserved



by


APPROVED BY: DIRECTOR OF THESIS _______________________________________________________________ (Derek Alderman, PhD, Professor, Geography) COMMITTEE MEMBER: _______________________________________________________________ (Jay Oliver, PhD, Assistant Professor, Marketing & Supply Chain Management) COMMITTEE MEMBER: _______________________________________________________________ (Paige P. Schneider, PhD, Assistant Professor, Recreation Leisure Studies) DIRECTOR M.S. SUSTAINABLE TOURISM _______________________________________________________________ (Joseph D. Fridgen, PhD, Professor) DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL _______________________________________________________________ (Paul J. Gemperline, PhD)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Words cannot explain the gratitude toward my professor, advisor, and mentor Dr. Derek

Alderman. All blame should be directed toward Derek for being such an inspiration during my

course, Advanced Geographic Images and introducing me to the concept of film-induced

tourism. His teaching style, eagerness to help, and overall passion toward academics influenced

my decision to pursue my PhD and hopefully to one day become a “kick ass” professor like him.

Thank you DA for believing in me and showing me how incredible cultural geography can be.

To my committee, Dr. Jay Oliver and Dr. Paige Schneider; thank you both so much for

your help throughout this whole process. Paige, you are my saving grace, thesis wizard, and an

amazing data pancake party hostess! I could not have asked for a better committee and truly

thank you both for everything.

Thank you also to the Center for Sustainable Tourism, Dr. Joe Fridgen, and Dr. Pat Long.

Joe and Pat have played an integral part in any success that I have achieved during my masters

and thesis process. Thank you both for always having the time to listen and guide me through

some incredibly important decisions in my life.

Lastly, my family for their unconditional love, support, and patience throughout every

step in my life. My parents have always been my light at the end of the tunnel and have taught

me to pursue what truly makes me happy in life. Here’s to you mom and dad!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... xiii

LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... xii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1

Mount Airy.................................................................................................................................. 3

Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................................ 4

Purpose of Study ......................................................................................................................... 5

Research Objectives .................................................................................................................... 5

Limitations of Thesis .................................................................................................................. 6

Organization on Thesis ............................................................................................................... 6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 8

The Growing Importance of Film-Induced Tourism .................................................................. 8

Forms and Characteristics of Film-Induced Tourism ................................................................. 9

Film Versus Television Series .................................................................................................. 11

Imaging and Destination Marketing within Film ...................................................................... 11

Affects of Film-Induced Tourism to the Town ......................................................................... 13

Sustainability of Film-Induced Tourism ................................................................................... 14

Festivals .................................................................................................................................... 14

Motivations of Tourists ............................................................................................................. 15

Push and Pull Factors ................................................................................................................ 15

Wanderlust Factors ................................................................................................................... 17

Socio-psychological Factors ..................................................................................................... 18

Escape from a Perceived Mundane Environment ..................................................................... 18

Nostalgia ................................................................................................................................... 19

Prestige ...................................................................................................................................... 19

Regression ................................................................................................................................. 20

Enhancement of Kinship Relationships .................................................................................... 20

Facilitation of Social Interaction ............................................................................................... 21

Understanding the Film-Induced Tourist .................................................................................. 21

Identifying the Type of Film-Induced Tourist .......................................................................... 25

CHAPTER 3: CASE STUDY: MOUNT AIRY, NORTH CAROLINA ...................................... 28

History of Mount Airy, North Carolina .................................................................................... 28

Influence of Andy Griffith to the town of Mount Airy ............................................................. 29

Transformation of Mount Airy to Mayberry ............................................................................ 30

Mayberry Days Festival ............................................................................................................ 33

The Real Mount Airy ................................................................................................................ 35

CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODS ...................................................................................... 38

Pre-Festival ............................................................................................................................... 38

During the Festival .................................................................................................................... 44

Profile of the Respondent .......................................................................................................... 46

Post Festival .............................................................................................................................. 50

CHAPTER 5: RESULTS & ANALYSIS ..................................................................................... 52

Screening of the Data ................................................................................................................ 52

Socio- Demographic Profile of the Respondents ...................................................................... 53

Tourist Behavior of the Respondent ......................................................................................... 65

Economic Impact of Tourist ..................................................................................................... 71

Tourist Satisfaction Level ......................................................................................................... 75

Tourist Motivations ................................................................................................................... 79

Influence of The Andy Griffith Show on the tourist .................................................................. 82

Type of Tourist ......................................................................................................................... 88

Type of Tourist Based on number of Days Spent at Festival ................................................... 90

Type of Tourist Based on Events .............................................................................................. 94

Cluster Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 98

Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................... 108

CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, AND FUTURE RESEARCH .............................. 110

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 110

Summary of Findings .............................................................................................................. 110

Implementation ....................................................................................................................... 113

Recommendations for Future Research .................................................................................. 114

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 125

APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………………… 130

Appendix A: IRB Approval ................................................................................................... 130

Appendix B: Invitation Survey Card ...................................................................................... 131

Appendix C: Mayberry Days Survey ...................................................................................... 132

Appendix D: Mayberry Days Festival Map ............................................................................ 143

LIST OF TABLES

1. Movie Icons…………………………………………………………………………………. 10

2. Continuum of Film-Induced Motivation……………………………………………………. 22

3. Push and Pull Motivation in Film-Induced Tourism……………………………………….. 24

4. Final Distribution of Invitation Survey Cards………………………………………………. 47

5. Events Observed by Researcher at 2010 Mayberry Days Festival………………………….. 49

6. Alphabetical Order of the State of Residence of the Respondents State……………………. 54

7. Distribution of Respondents by Age Category……………………………………………… 58

8. Distribution of Respondents by Education………………………………………………….. 60

9. Distribution of Marital Status/Current Occupation/ Gross Annual Income for 2009 of

Respondents ……………………………………………………………………………………. 62

10. Distribution of Race/Ethnicity………………………………………………………………64

11. Distribution of Days Attended………………………………………………………………66

12. Distribution of Where the Respondents Stayed During Their Visit……………………….. 68

13. Distribution of Activities Participated In……………………………………………………70

14. Distribution of Purchases Made …………………………………………………………… 72

15. Distribution of Individual Versus Total Travel Party Spending…………………………….74

16. Distribution of Tourist Satisfaction Level/Expectations ……………………………………76

17. Distribution of Expectation Themes……………………………………………………….. 78

18. Distribution of Motivations to Attend ………………………………………………………81

19. Distribution of How Often The Andy Griffith Show is Viewed……………………………. 83

20. Distribution of How Influential The Andy Griffith Show is on Decision to Visit….………. 85

21. Distribution of Mayberry Meaning by Themes……………………………………………. 87

22. Summary of Key Festival Behaviors ………………..…………………………………….. 89

23. Distribution of Festival Attendance ……………………………………………………….. 91

24. Distribution of the Events Participated In………………………………………………….. 95

25. Distribution of Cluster Groups Based on Events………………………………………….. 99

26. Distribution of Cluster Groups Based on State of Origin………………………………….101

27. Distribution of Cluster Groups Based on Participation of Having Photograph Taken with a

Mayberry/ Andy Griffith Show Star/Character Look-alike……………………………………. 103

28. Mayberry/The Andy Griffith Show Theme Category Purchases by Cluster Groups. …….. 105

29. Mount Airy Theme Category Purchases by Cluster Groups.……………………………...107

30. Major Findings……………………………………………………………………………. 109

LIST OF FIGURES

1. Conceptual Framework for Leisure Fanatics…………………………………………………26

2. Photographic Images of Mayberry Themes to Mount Airy, North Carolina…………………32

3. Photographic Images of Tourist Participation at 2010 Mayberry Days Festival …………… 34

4. Photographic Images of Tensions in Mount Airy, North Carolina………………………….. 36

5. Mayberry Day Festival Attendees by NC Zip Codes Map………………………………….. 56

6. Type of Tourist Based on the Number of Days Spent………………………………………. 93

7. Type of Tourist Based on Number of Events Participated.…………………………………. 97

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Film/television induced tourism is increasingly important to the development of many

communities inside and outside the United States. “Movie induced tourism relates to on-location

tourism that follows the success of a movie made (or set) in a particular region” (Beeton, 2006,

p. 9). According to Beeton (2006), “The study of film-induced tourism is complex,

incorporating aspects of disciplines such as sociology and psychology, as well as industry-based

sectors from film making through to destination marketing, community development and

strategic planning. Consequently, this is an untapped and little-understood field of tourism

research” (p. 17). In addition, tourists approach places in a spirit of discovery, affirming the

world conceptually and emotionally rather than in an exploratory frame of mind seeing what they

want to see and overlooking that which does not conform to their pattern (Pocock, 1982).

Beeton has also argued that future work in this area should make a frank assessment of the

negative and positive ways in which film/television tourism impacts places, suggesting that more

case studies should be conducted. This thesis seeks to fill this call for more case studies by

examining film/television related tourism in Mount Airy, North Carolina based on the television

program The Andy Griffith Show. The research will examine the sustainability of this type of

tourism and place promotion.

Sustainability is a concept largely missing from current discussions of film/television

induced tourism. Economic gain seems to be the overlying factor in why a community would

want to encourage tourism that capitalizes on the popularity of a film or television show.

Tourism Boards are primarily interested in increasing visitor numbers, which may very well

contradict the concept of sustainable tourism. Do town leaders looking towards film/television

induced tourism as a way to boost their local economy truly understand the short and long term

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effects this type of tourism can cause? Previous work suggests that the deterioration of

communities and the environment along with the loss of cultural history can result from a

film/television show being shot in that location and the visitation of subsequent tourists (Riley,

1998). Towns that pursue film/television induced tourism must be able to cope with anticipated

and unanticipated floods of tourists and plan ahead for the traveler who might choose to visit. In

planning for such travelers, it is important to have a well developed understanding of the types of

tourists attracted to film/television locations. This parts to the need for the development of

traveler profiles, which have not often been done in the context of television/film tourism.

Believing that an understanding of the characteristics, motivations, and perceptions of the tourist

is essential in sustainable tourism planning, this thesis builds a traveler profile of visitors to

Mount Airy’s Mayberry Days Festival.

Tourists visit with an expectation (if not demand) for an experience similar to what they saw

on screen and these expectations are perhaps unrealistic or incompatible with the town’s larger

development plan. These regions may soon find that they are being avoided by the higher yield

market that is developing a sense of responsibility towards travel and its associated impacts

(Beeton, 2006). For those communities that grow dependent on film/television induced tourism,

there is the major question of how long the effect will last. When will the film/television show

and the community fade from public attention and thus make tourism unsustainable?

Furthermore, if the town takes on the image of this fictional setting, how will it cope with its

re-branding after the love for that film/television show has faded? This is especially the case in

Mount Airy, which bases its tourism and television show that, while still in re-runs, was

produced fifty years ago in black and white and was set in the rural, small town.

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Mount Airy

Mount Airy, North Carolina, population 8,484, is birthplace of Andy Griffith, the lead

actor on The Andy Griffith Show. As the setting for the highly successful television comedy, The

Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968), Mayberry valorizes while also creating caricatures of ordinary,

working people and the idyllic and simple nature of small town life. The show was part of a

rural comedy programming trend at the time, a departure from the ethnic urban and WASP

suburban family sitcoms of the 1950s (O’Leary &Worland, 2005). These comedies were

intended to tap a growing television audience in rural, working class America. A Nielsen study

conducted in Andy Griffith’s last season of production found it to be the top show among blue

collar viewers and number three among white collar viewers (Kelly, 1981). Other examples of

this rural genre included the more farcical comedies of The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat

Junction, and Green Acres. While these television shows remain popular, they lack the high

quality of storytelling and emotional realism of Andy Griffith and they have not inspired the

same degree of fan devotion.

During the 1980s, the town of Mount Airy looked towards tourism as a way to offset its

weakened economy. They capitalized on the success of The Andy Griffith Show and transformed

the town in many ways into the fictional setting of Mayberry. Mount Airy’s City Barber Shop

became Floyd’s City Barber Shop and the Mount Airy Inn became The Mayberry Inn. Other

television show related businesses emerged, such as the Mayberry Bed & Breakfast, The Andy

Griffith Museum, Aunt Bea’s Barbeque, Aunt Bee’s Room, Wally’s Service Station, Bluebird

Diner, the Old Mayberry Jail, Knight’s Inn Mayberry Motel. Subsequently, the landscape of

Mount Airy had been morphed into an idealized vision of a “small, simple” all American town.

Furthermore, The Snappy Lunch Diner was mentioned by Andy Griffith’s character, Sheriff

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Andy Taylor, during the November 14, 1960 episode as a place to “…eat, have some coffee, and

talk”. After that episode aired, the real life Snappy Lunch Diner, located in Mount Airy, saw an

enormous boost of business and presently tourists still flock to this establishment for Snappy’s

$1.55 cheeseburger!

In an attempt to revise a struggling economy, Mount Airy has hosted an annual

“Mayberry Days” festival since 1990, attracting tens of thousands of visitors from across the

region and the country. People visit the festival to purchase Andy Griffith memorabilia, meet

surviving stars from the show, learn about Griffith’s history, and socialize with other fans. On a

deeper level, they are also drawn to the festival by a sense of attachment to Mayberry as a

simpler time and place, even if it is simply replicated in Mount Airy. Festival goers tend to be

older, working class people who are still avid watchers of the television show. Mount Airy is

doing its best to imitate an imitation of itself and become America’s official genuine make-

believe hometown (Brown, 1997).

Statement of the Problem

Mount Airy actively brands itself as Mayberry, as evident in its website address

visitmayberry.com and the “Come visit Mayberry!” on its main webpage. In addition to this

website marketing of Mayberry, every September the town of Mount Airy hosts Mayberry Days,

a three day festival where tourists from across the country come to reconnect with The Andy

Griffith Show. The Surry Arts Council boasts: “There is something fun for everyone in the family

to enjoy. Whether you are a casual fan of The Andy Griffith Show or can quote every episode,

you enjoy a good game of checkers or you just want to sit on the porch, sip sweet cider and count

cars, the spirit of Mayberry tales may forms during the festival and we’ve got something just for

you” (The Surry Arts Council, 2010). Events include live shows, Mrs. Wiley’s Tea Party, book

5

signings, a Mayberry Days Parade, concerts, trivia contests, and pie eating contests - all of

which play off of The Andy Griffith Show theme. Celebrity look-alikes prance around Mount

Airy’s Main Street enticing tourists to take photographs, sign autographs and engage families in

“wholesome fun.”

Purpose of Study

During the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival, a methodology was carved out to better

understand the type of tourist attracted to Mount Airy, with the intent assisting with the

interpretation of the sustainability of this form of television-based tourism. An on-line survey

was designed and implemented to collect data to understand tourists in terms of demographic

characteristics, travel motivations, consumption patterns, and perceptions of Mount Airy. Data

were collected over a four day period from September 22-26, 2010. Opportunities to participate

in the survey were provided to the Mayberry Days tourists during the festival as well as in the

three months after the festival. Drawing from this methodological experience, the thesis sought

to address the following research objectives and questions.

Research Objectives

The survey was created to assist in understanding the following objectives:

1. To develop a tourist profile of the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival attendee in terms of

socio-demographic characteristics, motivations, perceptions, and economic impact.

2. To determine to what extent tourist motivations to attend the 2010 Mayberry Days

Festival were heavily influenced by The Andy Griffith Show.

3. To develop a framework for identifying and analyzing different travel profiles for

those attending the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival based on the behavior and

characteristics of tourists.

6

4. To discuss connections between sustainability and the Mount Airy case.

Limitations of Thesis

The thesis is subject to the following limitations:

1. The number of respondents were limited since tourists visiting the festival

were invited to take part of the survey and no incentive was offered.

2. The survey was placed online and some of the respondents did not have access to the

internet and/or did not know how to navigate the survey.

3. Distribution of the survey invitations were limited due to the lack of participation from

The Surry Arts Council and no booth/station was offered.

4. The amount of survey invitations were not of a huge quantity compared to the number

of tourists at the festival.

5. Since the survey was online, some of the respondents did not feel obligated to

complete the whole survey compared to a paper survey where the researcher could

regulate the respondent’s level of participation.

Organization on Thesis

Chapter 1 provides an introduction to this thesis, explores the concept of film/television

induced tourism and how sustainability plays a role within tourism and introduces the town of

Mount Airy, North Carolina and the Mayberry Days Festival. Additionally, there is an

articulation of the purpose of the thesis, research objectives, and limitations of the thesis.

Chapter 2 provides a review of the main concepts and framework from the literature.

Film/television induced tourism is explored in more detail and role it plays within festivals. The

motivations of why tourists venture to certain destinations are discussed in relation to

nostalgia/escapism in addition to what type of tourist typically attends such theme specific

7

festivals. This chapter also reflects the economic impact that festivals have on a destination and

how sustainable the idea of one specific theme festival is to an area.

Chapter 3 provides a more in-depth look into the case of Mount Airy, North Carolina.

The physical transformation of the town to mimic Mayberry is illustrated through photographs

and illustrates how the town looked towards tourism to boost their economy. Additionally, the

type of tourist is mentioned in relation to the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival that was adapted

from Mackellar’s framework.

Chapter 4 provides a discussion of the thesis’ methods, specifically the online survey.

Chapter 5 discusses the results from the online survey implemented at the 2010 Mayberry Days

Festival and an analysis of the findings.

Finally, Chapter 6 provides a summary of the findings, discussing the implications and

offering suggestions for further research.

8

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

The Growing Importance of Film-Induced Tourism

The first feature film that caused a major flood of tourism was The Mutiny on the Bounty

(1935), which turned Tahiti into a major tourist attraction (Rosech, 2009). Over a decade later

numerous other films such as The Third Man (1949), Niagara (1953), To Catch a Thief (1955),

Bridge on the River Kwai (1958), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and The Sound of Music (1965)

enticed tourists to visit destinations to experience the sites portrayed in films. To date The Sound

of Music attracts around 300,000 film tourists per year to the city of Vienna, brining in a

significant amount of money to the town (Rosech, 2009).

Mass tourism in the 1970s and 1980s along with huge film productions like the movie

Jaws (1975) increased the development of film tourism and triggered the movie industry to

expand their consumer market aim towards globalized marketing and promotion strategies. Now

movies have a global audience and the advertising budget and production per film rose ten

million dollars between the 1980s and the 1990s in the United States (Rosech, 2009).

Most recently a mountain peak in China, which is said to have inspired scenes in the hit

3D movie Avatar (2009), has been renamed by tourism leaders in China. The "Southern Sky

Column" in Zhangjiajie located in the southern Hunan province has been officially renamed

"Avatar Hallelujah Mountain" in a bid to boost tourism. Additionally, Zhangjiajie adopted the

slogan, ‘Pandora is far but Zhangjiajie is near’, on their official website, and guided tours have

sprung up offering to take tourists to the spots believed to have inspired the film. Avatar has

grossed over $80 million in China and has become the most popular film in box office history in

China (Beaton, 2010). Films like Avatar have the ability to alter not only the landscape of a

place but also how the area is promoted, marketed, and branded.

9

Another film that has had a tremendous box office success is the recent film 127 Hours

(2011). The film is a true story of a mountain climber Aron Ralston’s adventure to save his life

after being trapped in a canyon in Utah. Following the release of the film, the Utah Office of

Tourism announced 127 Hour itineraries. The film was shot on location in Utah’s red rock

country within the Bluejohn Canyon (Utah Office of Tourism, 2011).

Forms and Characteristics of Film-Induced Tourism

Television and film allow people to be transported to another time and place and in turn

tourists seek out environments and experiences that mirror what they have seen on the silver

screen/television. In Urry’s (1990) the Tourist Gaze, he suggests:

…places are chosen to be gazed upon because there is an anticipation, especially

through daydreaming and fantasy, or intense pleasures, either on a different scale

or involving a different sense from those customarily encountered. Such

anticipation is constructed and sustained through a variety of non-tourist practices

such as film, TV, literature, magazines, records, and videos which construct and

reinforce the gaze (p. 3).

The tourist gaze can be directed to certain features that are unique and therefore

distinguish the “site/sight” of the gaze from others. The properties of a movie location, whether

scenic, historical, or literary- qualify as icons for tourists to gaze upon (Riley, Baker, & Van

Doren, 1998). But these icons are hard to measure in terms of whether a tourist is visiting the

location based on their fascination with the movie or willingness to venture to that film site while

already at that destination for other reasons. Adapted from Riley et al. (1998), examples of

movie icons are provided in Table 2.1.

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Table 2.1 Movie Icons Movie Location Iconic Attraction A River Runs Through It Montana Rivers and

Mountains

Fish, Natural Scenery

Bull Durham Baseball Diamond, Durham, NC

Baseball

Close Encounters Devils Tower, WY Alien Encounters

Dances with Wolves South Dakota Plains Native American Culture, Natural Scenery

Deliverance Georgia Rivers Canoeing

Field of Dreams Dyersville, IA Baseball History and Mystique

Forrest Gump Park Bench, Savannah, GA Underdog Makes Good Theme

Fried Green Tomatoes Juliet, GA Self Liberation Theme

Last of the Mohicans Chimney Rock Park, NC Native American Culture

Thelma and Louise Arches National Park, UT Self Empowerment Theme

The River Wild River in N.W. Montana Rafting and Natural Scenery

Weekend at Bernies II US Virgin Islands Tropical Paradise Adapted from Riley et al (1998). Movie Induced Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research.

11

Tourists flock to Mount Airy as a primary travel motivator as it is marketed as Mayberry

and advertised as Andy Griffith’s home place. Additionally, tourists make the pilgrimage to

Mount Airy to “pay homage” to The Andy Griffith Show and even dress up like the characters on

the show. The home that Andy Griffith grew up in is now an extremely popular rental vacation

home and still photographed by tourists. Lastly, Mount Airy is seen as a nostalgic film on-

location film tourism site attracting tourists to the 1950s era.

Film Versus Television Series

Beeton (2006) suggests that the phrase ‘movie-induced tourism’ tends to be a limited

experience whereas television series have a longer screening and filming period with the option

of syndication. Therefore, television series allow the viewer to develop a stronger relationship

with the story, characters and setting over a longer period of time. This allows for the

reinforcement of the desire to visit the location/region of where the series was filmed and also to

view crews/stars spending time at on-location sites. The Andy Griffith Show, opening scene

alone attracts numerous tourists to Mount Airy, even though that shot was not filmed there. The

television series, now in syndication, allows viewers to develop a strong bond for the show and

reenact that opening scene.

Imaging and Destination Marketing within Film

Crompton (1978) defines destination image as the aggregate sum of beliefs, ideas,

impressions, and expectations that a tourist has about a tourist destination area. Riley and Van

Doren (2009) suggest that these images are concerned with the intangible, tangible, individual

perceptions and feelings of people about such a place thus motivating people to become tourists

and to select certain destinations. These destinations are in turn places that tourists are motivated

to visit but are simply places that can be seen as an analytical concept involving the process of

12

shaping meaning and practice in material space (Cresswell, 2009). Urry (1990) proposed that

one of the basic consumer motivations is the desire to experience, in reality, imaginary pleasures

that have been developed in the consumer’s mind thus creating meaning.

Tourism involves the idea of escaping reality and experiencing different activities

through daydreaming and the image created by the tourist’s mind serves as a powerful motivator

(Beeton, 2006). With regards to the idea of the imagination being a tourism motivator, Davidson

and Spearritt (2000) state that society may be drifting from desiring authentic tourism

experiences towards the staged authenticity of a society focused on infotainment. “Central to

ways that film constructs cultural representations and images is the manner in which we consume

film” (Beeton, 2006, p. 27). The viewer can be influenced by how and with whom they viewed

the film while also identifying with the subject or storyline from a personal or relative standpoint

(Beeton, 2006).

Destination or place marketing is aimed at either reinforcing the existing image in the

potential visitor’s mind or constructing a brand new image to replace a negative connotation as a

tourism strategy (Beeton, 2006). Visual media can be considered a powerful marketing tool in

creating an image to motivate the tourist into visiting a destination. Within film/television

storyline people recognize certain icons like the natural scenery, exciting/exotic locations,

storyline themes and human relationships that serve as motivations to visit that destination. The

icons are not always visual and can be fixed in the storyline or character themes (Riley et al.,

1998). Riley and Van Doren (1992) also include the motivations of pilgrimage, nostalgia and

escape as tourist attractions inherent in certain film and television programs.

The most powerful instrument in creating and shaping images today is the visual

medium, specifically films and televisions (Roesch, 2009). Television is commonly regarded as

13

the most powerful source in advertising and has the ability to place the product within a realistic

scenario. Television series and films capitalize on how the product is portrayed and how tourists

are motivated to seek out the experience seen. The attributes of a place could now be globally

received and accepted through televised images, which resulted in the globally accepted sense of

these portrayed places (Massey, 1994).

Affects of Film-Induced Tourism to the Town

Within film-induced tourism, there has been a range of benefits both positive and

negative to the town. Riley et al. (1998) points out that there are numerous tourism benefits from

film including the introduction of organized tours, memorabilia sales, new use of sites, expansion

of community festivals, and the exposure received by the hotels and guest houses that were used

as film locations.

Beeton (2006) suggests that one of the major economic benefits and factors of film-

induced tourism is that viewing past locations can be an all-year, all-weather attraction that

allows for more tourism during the off-peak seasons. Riley et al. (1998) gives some examples of

seemingly unattractive locations that have lured visitors after the release of the film The Chicago

home of Kevin in Home Alone , the “mom and pop” motel in Rainman, the high school

gymnasium from Hoosiers have all seen an increase in visitors. Tours and festivals have been

created in some areas to help entice more visitors to those remote locations.

Other negative attributes that accompany film-induced tourism range from the

exploitation of locals and visitors to the lack of preparedness by locals when dealing with the

overflow of tourists. There are also social and environmental impacts where the carrying

capacity of a site can be a major concern for an area. The influx of tourists to an area could

cause an increase of vehicle traffic and pedestrian congestion (Beeton, 2006). Riley et al. (1998)

14

has also identified the drawbacks that result from when a location differs significantly from the

way it is portrayed on film, resulting in a loss of visitor satisfaction, as well as the various effects

of souvenir hunters, especially those that seek highway and street signs. For example, some

residents are not ready or prepared for an influx of visitors as seen after the release of Forrest

Gump. Visitors were in search of the bench that Forrest Gump sat on during the movie and were

outraged when they could not find the bench in Savannah, Georgia, where the scene was shot.

The Savannah Chamber of Commerce had to deal with the influx of visitors who were in search

for the park bench that was only placed there for the film and removed after the film (Riley et al.,

1998).

Sustainability of Film-Induced Tourism

Film tourism can arguably be sustained for a long period of time if all the correct

ingredients are combined accordingly. Movies and television shows can attract tourists for

decades and have the power to evoke an emotional chord to the tourist that influences them to

travel to that iconic site in order to experience that feeling in person (Rosech, 2009). Destination

marketing tools allow for sustainability to be maintained for an even longer period of time

continuing the attraction of film tourists many years after their release. Lastly, communities

must be involved in order to drive film tourism and to gain acceptance by locals. The local

support will ensure that over-commercialization is avoided and the effects of film tourism are

welcomed (Rosech, 2009).

Festivals

Festivals and events are important off events that can act as tourism generators. Film

festivals and movie premieres in particular serve a social function and evoke symbolic meaning,

both relating to and reflecting the community’s ideology, social identity, historical continuity and

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physical survival (Falassi, 1987). Numerous festivals exist from the audience-based film festival

to themed festivals like Star Trek festivals (Beeton, 2006). These festivals contain elements of

symbolic meaning and social function, that can reflect the community’s view of its place in the

world through the films that are selected for the festival (Beeton, 2006). Visitors that are

attracted to these film festivals range from domestic to international film industry personnel.

Motivations of Tourists

Motivations are driving forces that influence and predispose people to display a specific

behavior (Dann, 1981; Pearce, 1982). In tourism research, a perception is the image that the

tourist has on a destination and that image effects the behavior and intentions of the tourist

(Gnoth, 1997). Baloglu and McCleary (1999) state that perceptions about the destination are a

function of internal motivations (push motives) and external motivations (pull motives). Each

tourist has his/her own internal and external motivations to travel which lead to different

perceptions about a tourist destination.

Push and Pull Factors

‘‘Push’’ and ‘‘pull’’ factors and their importance in shaping tourist motivations were

emphasized by Crompton (1979). ‘‘Push’’ factors are intangible factors that push or compel

tourists to venture away from home, while ‘‘pull’’ factors are tangible characteristics that pull

tourists into the destination, that is, it is what makes a destination attractive for potential visitors

including historical and cultural resources, beaches, and accommodation (Andreu, Bigne´, &

Cooper, 2000). It has been noted that while the internal forces push people to travel, the external

forces of the destination simultaneously pull them to choose that particular destination

(Klenosky, 2002). Also push motives can be seen as a tool for explaining the desire to go on

vacation, while pull factors explain the choice of the destination. Since push factors are

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intangible, it is more difficult to measure what truly influences a person’s decision to travel. A

range of push factors compel people to travel, but two in particular stand out (Krippendorf,

1987). According to Krippendorf (1987), these two attributes are the two most important

psychological drivers behind people’s decision to travel. These motivations seem to satisfy the

tourist’s social needs to mix with other fellow tourists to meet local people, and spend time with

people they care about. These elements would seem pretty obvious when one hears the word

“vacation” or “holiday”. But people’s motives cannot be explained by a single-dimension

because individuals have dissimilar reasons for engaging in leisure or travel activities.

Additionally, it is difficult to completely understand why people choose to travel to certain

locations due to prior experiences, images/perceptions, or simple biases about a place.

People also might have “appraisive perceptions” which refer to emotions and volume-

based meanings that people attach to places and spaces (Alderman, 2009). These perceptions

can be either a love of a place (topophilia) or a hatred or dread of a place (topophobia). Again,

past experiences and opinions from peers influence a person’s perception of a destination

whether they are aware of it or not.

Motives related to a destination’s social environment, shopping facilities, sports activities

and nightlife are encompassed by pull factors. All of these motives are tangible and can be based

on physical appearance along with economic factors. With pull factors, people are able to

physically determine where they would like to vacation. They can ascertain whether they would

rather venture to a nature-based destination or perhaps a city where shopping/restaurants are

plentiful.

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Crompton (1979) advances a push and pull framework of travel motivations which is

built upon nine specific motives that include:

• Escape from a perceived mundane environment

• Exploration and evaluation of self

• Relaxation

• Prestige

• Regression (to adolescent or child-like behavior)

• Enhancement of kinship relations

• Social interaction

• Novelty

• Education

Crompton (1979, p. 412) argued that push factors could also have “directive potential to

direct the tourist towards a particular destination” when examining the initial arousal to go on a

vacation.

Wanderlust Factors

Wanderlust is defined by Gray (1970) “That basic trait in human nature that causes some

individuals to want to leave things with which they are familiar and to go and see at first hand

different existing cultures and places, or the relies of past cultures in places famous for their

historical associations, ruins, and monuments” (p. 24). Wanderlust has a fantasy component and

seems to confirm the notion that people need to escape from reality through tourism. There is a

need for social interaction and the ongoing theme of breaking away from the norm, “A holiday is

undertaken in response to a sense of internal damage or depletion and represents a period of

replenishment and restoration. When he goes on holiday, the holiday maker is hoping to take in

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and store ‘internal goods’ with which he will return enriched, regenerated and recharged to his

own environment” (Hill, 1965, p. 55). The sense of escapism and fantasy keep appearing as an

important theme in explaining why people travel. When most people travel, they are physically

and mentally transporting themselves into another physical and cultural world or environment.

However, some people continue to practice their same routine when traveling, but in a

completely different setting within a physical or social context. The traveler can partake in their

daily routine but exclude the mundane and highlight desired elements instead.

Socio-psychological Factors

According to Crompton (1973), travelers disregarded the actual destination as the “modus

operandi” and instead found socio-psychological reasons when choosing a vacation. These

reasons are specific to each traveler and Crompton (1973) felt that these motives represented a

“hidden agenda” and suggested that some people may not take pleasure vacations because they

are not in tuned with their socio-psychological tension states. The destination itself served as a

way to satisfy such psychological motives, instead of specific attributes or cultural

characteristics. Although these motives are hard to measure and understand, they play an

integral role in the decision process. Crompton (1973) identified seven socio-psychological

motives that directly relate to why people travel: 1) escape from a perceived mundane

environment; 2) exploration and evaluation of self; 3) realization; 4) prestige; 5) regression; 6)

enhancement of kinship relationships; and 7) facilitation of social interaction.

Escape from a Perceived Mundane Environment

Even the smallest change of scenery seems to illicit a sense of escapism, a common

theme to explain why people travel. However, with Crompton’s (1973) study, he concluded that

even those people who are living in a “prized” living atmosphere wanted a change of

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environment. This anticipation can even transport a person while they are still in their mundane

environment and can be seen as another motive to vacation more often to reach a state of bliss.

Nostalgia

Dann and Potter (2001) describe nostalgia as a quest for an absent order, a, “…playful

hankering after a differentiated premodern world by tourists from a post-modern de-

differentiated home environment” (p. 70). The definition was expanded by Holbrook and

Schindler (1991) to entail, “…a preference (general liking, positive attitude, or favorable affect)

towards objects (people, places, or things) that were more common (popular, fashionable, or

wider circulated) when one was younger (in early childhood, in adolescence, in childhood, or

even before birth)” (p. 330).

The tourists are “…yearning for a past they can no longer find in their own social

settings. Unable to tolerate their present alienated condition, and ever fearful of the future, they

seek solace in days gone by-a world where it was once possible to distinguish right from

wrong…pleasure from pain” (Dann & Potter, 2001, p. 67). Therefore, the visitors’ need for

nostalgia can be seen as a motivation to visit a destination that transports them to a purer, simpler

time when life was not so complicated, unstable and fragmented.

Prestige

Although the prestige of traveling can be very personal, it does play an important role in

why people travel. Many people see traveling to any destination as an honor and one must have

money in order to do so. Although this may be true, one can also travel through volunteer-based

tourism where funds are raised before the trip begins. However, when you ask someone where

they are going or have traveled to, there always seems to be some type of judgment of that

destination or hotel/restaurant they visited. Again, perceptions and images play a role in where

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people travel to and those perceptions can influence a traveler, whether they are aware of or not,

to take into effect the role that “prestige” plays throughout their trip.

Regression

While on vacation, most people engage in activities that are out of the ordinary or

perhaps remind them of a time with no stress. Crompton (1973) suggested, “The things

respondents’ cited were often puerile, irrational, and more reminiscent of adolescent or child

behavior than mature adult behavior. The opportunity to engage in this behavior was facilitated

by withdrawal from usual role obligations” (p. 45). That is why most people, when they

vacation, feel a sense of freedom from their work, family, life obligations and seek activities that

remind them of a time where “adventure” and “fun” were of importance. This search of life of a

previous era is called “nostalgia factor” (Crompton, 1973). Perhaps, that is why Disney World is

still famous and worldly renowned for “The Happiest Place on Earth.” A world where that

seems to be free of complexities, stress, and fear: “…this search for the life style of a previous

era is a transitory, ephemeral tension state, and when homeostasis is restored, return to the

routine life is accepted” (Crompton, 1973, p. 68).

Enhancement of Kinship Relationships

One of the top reasons that people travel is to visit relatives. Compton’s (1973) study

found that the majority of the respondents felt that pleasure vacations brought families closer

together and enriched relationships. During a trip, families are able to come together, forget their

differences, and enhance their bond. However, the reality is that some trips do not bring together

families but tear them apart. That is why it is up to the individual to express why s/he wants to

be on vacation. Some might state that they rather escape from their family instead.

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Facilitation of Social Interaction

Traveling to any location will invariably bring about social interaction. People have to

connect with one another, whether on an intellectual, emotional, or physical level. Thus, when

traveling, some forms of interaction can be beneficial and can grow into long-lasting

relationships that can ignite more traveling to visit those contacts made. Sometimes, these

connections with other people can come out of mass tourism especially travel tours.

Understanding the Film-Induced Tourist

The film location tourist is a person who actively seeks to visit an on-location from a

feature film. A film location tourist, whether pre-planned or by coincidence, is a person who

actively visits a precise on-location that has been used for shooting a scene or scenes that were

portrayed on the cinema or television screen (Rosesch, 2009). Macionis (2004) suggested that

there are intrinsic motivational factors that prompt film site specific travel behavior. Such push

factors would include fantasy, escape, status, prestige, search for self concept or identity, ego

enhancement, and partaking in a “vicarious experience.” Macionis (2004) categorizes the film-

induced tourist into three groups; 1) serendipitous, 2) general, and 3) specific film tourist. An

adaption of Macionis (2004) continuum is provided in Table 2.2.

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Table 2.2 Continuum of Film-Induced Motivation

Increasing interest in film Serendipitous Film Tourist General Film Tourist Specific Film Tourist

• Those who just happen to be in a destination portrayed in a film

• Those who are not specifically drawn to a film location but who participate in film tourism activities while at a destination

• Those who actively seek out places that they have seen in a film

Motivations Include: Motivations Include: Motivations Include: • Social interaction • novelty • self-actualization • novelty • education • pilgrimage

• nostalgia • self-identity • fantasy • romance • nostalgia

Increasing self-actualization motivations

Adapted from Macionis, N. (2004). Understanding the Film-Indcued Tourist. International Tourism and Media Conference

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The push and pull framework provides some underlying motivations of film tourist

behavior. The concepts: place, performance, and personality all contribute to the motivations of

film-induced tourists. Place is a possible pull factor in film-induced tourism as a unique

landscape or beautiful scenery. Film and television allow place to be created, altered, and

reinforced (Macionis, 2004). Performance as a pull factor draws particular stories and genres

from a film/television show that allows the tourist to relate to the situation of characters in the

show. Personality as a pull factor is seen in the film characters as well as the stars/actors who

portray them. Table 2.3 illustrates the pull and push factors within film-induced tourism adapted

from Macionis (2004).

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Table 2.3 Push and Pull Motivation in Film-Induced Tourism

Pull Factors (Film) Push Factors (Internal Drive) Place Personality Performance Location

Scenery

Landscapes

Weather

Cultural origin

Social origin

Activity origin

Cast

Characters

Celebrity (Stars)

Plot

Theme

Genre

Ego enhancement

Status/Prestige

Fantasy/Escape

Vicarious Experience

Search for self identity

Adapted from: Macionis, N. (2004). Understanding the Film-Indcued Tourist. International Tourism and Media Conference

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Three concepts, 1) place, 2) personality, and 3) performance, are a framework for

investigating whether different or distinct motivations drive or induce travel behavior (Macionis,

2004). Visitors to screened locations seek sights/sites portrayed in films (Riley et al., 1998) and

may also be seeking personal rewards such as novelty or knowledge.

Identifying the Type of Film-Induced Tourist

MacKeller (2006) uses the pull and push factors of a film-induced tourist to identify the

travel behaviors and motivations of the “fan” while attending festivals. “Festivals, meets, swaps,

conventions and shows all serve a distinct and fundamental purpose for fanatics-to provide an

environment in which fanatics can pursue their passions” (p. 210). She classified the tourist by

their behaviors, psychological and social characteristics exhibited during their participation at

events/festivals.

MacKeller’s study (2006) considered the fanatics that became obsessed with leisure in a

psycho/social perspective within the festival/event setting. She examined the resultant behaviors

of the fanatic at a festival, the concept of travel as being a function of the fanatic, and the types

of touristic opportunities/activities they undertook. Festivals/events played a huge role in

discussing the needs and desires of the fanatic along with the negative aspects in the fanatic’s

behaviors that affected their travel behaviors in certain situations. Social characteristics,

psychological characteristics, and behaviors of the fanatic all played a factor in the type of event

the tourist is attracted to. The adapted Figure 2.1 explains the conceptual framework for leisure

fanatics based on the fanatic’s social characteristics, psychological characteristics, and behaviors.

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Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework for Leisure Fanatics

The Fanatic

Social Characteristics Psychological Characteristics - Contextual facilitation - Intensity of enthusiasm - Join groups that sustain beliefs - Value-attitude - Attend events that reinforce ideals - Commitment - Alternative to real society - Reduced value of other needs - Holder of the absolute - Narcissistic thrill - Injured by life - Finds security in fanatical system - Incoherence of decisions - Potentially aggressive Behaviors Fixated Consumer Recreation/Leisure Touristic - Irrational - Progressing - Travel to pursue their own - Excessive - Seeking new challenges activity - Frequent display of objects - Social groups & Clubs - Travel with their own - Sharing their involvement - Just right reinforcement equipment - Deep and passionate interest - Leisure social world - Very highly skilled in a particular object or other - Highly involved – time and $ individuals product category - Highly committed - Wide range of experiences -Willing to go to considerable - Central life interest - Independent travelers lengths for more examples - New ways to anchor oneself - Pose significant marketing -Time and money for product difficulties searching - Want to travel to non- - Collecting products and icons standard destinations - Individualization and customization are vital Adapted from Mackellar, J. (2008). Dabblers, fans, and fanatics: Exploring behavioural segmentation at a special-interest event. Journal of Vacation Marketing

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Based on previous literature, the current study categorized respondents into three groups

based on responses to a set of behaviors while attending the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival.

Adapting MacKeller’s (2006) framework the current study identified three tourist types; 1)

amateur, 2) enthusiast, and 3) fanatic. The adapted framework helped to identify the type of

tourist venturing to the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival based on their response to the types of

events they attended and the type of behaviors they exhibited. A cluster analysis will be

employed as an exploratory tool to reveal natural groupings (or clusters) within a dataset that

would otherwise not be apparent. The clusters were based on where the tourist was coming

from.

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CHAPTER 3: CASE STUDY: MOUNT AIRY, NORTH CAROLINA

The Andy Griffith Show has been called the timeless portrayal of simple, small town life

during a time where traditional values were cherished and people respected one another. The

backdrop of the show was perceived to be the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina but the

show was actually shot at a Desilu Cahuenga Studios in Culver City, California (Easton, 2009).

Seeking to connect with the idea of Mayberry rather than where filming actually occurred,

tourists have been flocking to Mount Airy, North Carolina, hometown of Andy Griffith in order

to escape their lives and supposedly to be transported back to the 1950s. This chapter provides

background on Mount Airy as the case study of this thesis, and how the town has transformed

itself into a film tourism destination.

History of Mount Airy, North Carolina

The town of Mount Airy, located in the Blue Ridge foothills of North Carolina, was

incorporated in 1885 and officially became a city on July 15, 1976. Over the course of 50 years,

the Surry County area was among the state’s largest producers of tobacco, furniture

manufacturing, textiles, and granite thanks in part to the arrival of the railroad during the 1800s.

Many of the structures and buildings of Mount Airy are made of granite due to the town being

located near the world’s largest open-faced granite quarry in Flat Rock. Textiles were also a

vital part of the economy of Mount Airy in the twentieth century in addition to Quality Mills, a

popular producer of high quality golf shirts. Textiles, lumber, tobacco, furniture, manufacturing

of “believe it or not” toasters, and granite all allowed for a vibrant economy for nearly a century

within Mount Airy (Perry, 2010).

The railroad service reached Mount Airy in 1888 and spurred a boom for the city with

increased production of granite, furniture, and tobacco industries. The rail service followed the

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Ararat River by the White Sulphur Springs Hotel, up Clark’s Creek to Carter’s Mill to the Dan

River and then into Kibler Valley. The Mount Airy and Eastern Railroad ran for around twenty

years transporting people, supporting jobs and bringing a sense of pride for the town. Around

1916, a storm caused the Dan River to flood, ceasing the railroad that linked the economies of

Patrick County, Virginia to Mount Airy, North Carolina. Many jobs were lost after the railroad

ceased thus causing the big industries to leave the Mount Airy area. Mount Airy is now home to

a few hosiery manufacturers, wineries, and small manufacturing companies.

Before the actor Andy made Mount Airy popular, the town was known for having the

name of the “Siamese Twins” (conjoined twins) Eng and Chang Bunker. The twins arrived in

America in 1829 from Thailand and married the Yates sisters before moving to Surry County.

Today there is an Eng and Chang Bunker Memorial bridge and an estimated 1,500 descendants

from the twenty-one children of the two families (Perry, 2010). Additionally the Mount Airy

Museum of Regional History and The Surry Arts Council/Andy Griffith Playhouse have exhibits

about the twins and directions to their gravesite are mentioned on the Mount Airy Chamber of

Commerce website.

Influence of Andy Griffith to the town of Mount Airy

Andy Griffith was born on June 1, 1926 in Mount Airy, North Carolina and grew up in

the small town before attending college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After

graduating in 1949, Griffith taught English in Goldsboro for a short period of time and began to

develop his own stand up act. In 1960 Griffith began playing the role of Sheriff Andy Taylor in

The Andy Griffith Show, a widely popular television show set in the fictional town of Mayberry.

Griffith’s show ran for seven years where he was the starring role until 1968 when he left.

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Griffith later starred in Matlock (1986-1995) the television series depicting a lawyer based in

Atlanta, Georgia.

Even though Andy Griffith was born and raised in Mount Airy he has often dismissed the

possibility of any ties between his show and the town. However, this has not stopped local

tourism officials and fans from pointing out the many similarities, including the real town of

Mulberry, NC (Mayberry), Pilot Mountain, NC (Mount Pilot), Taylorsville, NC (Andy Taylor),

Crumpler, NC (Helen Crump), Walkertown, NC (Warren Ferguson) all municipalities only

twenty-five miles away from Mount Airy, NC (Easton, 2009). Additionally, some character

names from The Andy Griffith Show were named after real people, including childhood friends of

Andy Griffith. On October 16, 2002, Griffith returned to Mount Airy for the first time in 45

years to be honored by North Carolina Governor Mike Easley in renaming a ten mile stretch of

Highway 52 the Andy Griffith Parkway. At the dedication ceremony Griffith, then 76, said,

“I’m proud to be from the great state of North Carolina. I’m proud to be from Mount Airy.

People started saying that Mayberry was based on Mount Airy. It sure sounds like it, doesn’t

it?” (Easton, 2009, p.10). This was the only statement that Griffith has provided that relates

Mount Airy to the fictional town of Mayberry giving local residents what they have been hoping

for years: confirmation.

Transformation of Mount Airy to Mayberry

In the 1980s, the weakened economy of Mount Airy looked to tourism as a development

strategy and began marketing itself as a “real-life Mayberry” (Berden, 2010). The Surry Arts

Council along with Jim Clark, founder and Presiding Director of The Andy Griffith Show Rerun

Watchers Club (TAGSRWC), started to brand Mount Airy as Mayberry and convince the public

that Mount Airy was truly the fictional town portrayed in the show. Mount Airy slowly started

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to transform the landscape of the city into America’s most famous make-believe hometown and

connecting itself to the popularity of The Andy Griffith Show. According to Brown (1997),

“promoters have been successful in creating a town with a moral center, an agrarian sense of

time, and a believable community of characters” (p. 50).

Evidence abounds on the landscape of Mount Airy’s transformation into Mayberry and a

film tourism destination– Mount Airy’s City Barber Shop became Floyd’s City Barber Shop, the

Mount Airy Inn was renamed The Mayberry Inn. Other enterprises named for characters and

places from the show (e.g., named Aunt Bea’s Barbeque (misspelled), Opie’s Candystore,

Floyd’s Barber Shop, Wally’s Service Station, Barney’s Cafe) started to join the Mayberry craze

by renaming their stores to mimic the fictional town. More businesses started to join the

bandwagon: the Mayberry Mall, Mayberry Cinema, Mayberry Antiques, Mayberry Alarm &

Lock Co., Mayberry Waterworks (Car Wash), Mayberry Country Hair World, Mayberry Candle

Shop, Mayberry on Main Store, Mayberry Bed & Breakfast, The Andy Griffith Museum, The

Andy Griffith Theater, Bluebird Diner, the Old Mayberry Jail, Knight’s Inn Mayberry, Mayberry

Coffee Company, and the Mayberry Learning Center. The Squad Car Tour, which transports

fans around Mount Airy in 1960s era police vehicles started to become a huge tourist attraction.

On top of the physical landscape change, the onetime mention of the real life Snappy Lunch

diner on November 14, 1960 episode of The Andy Griffith Show led to an influx of tourists

seeking the famous pork chop sandwich. The real Snappy Lunch Diner goes back to 1923 and

was a spot where Andy Griffith supposedly ate as a young child. Additionally, tourists can still

get their hair cut by Floyd the Barber where the “Hall of Fame” stands with familiar faces such

as Oprah Winfrey and Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk). See Figure 3.1 for photographs that

show examples of Mount Airy’s marketing of Mayberry.

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Figure 3.1: Photographic Images of Mayberry Themes to Mount Airy, North Carolina

Squad Car Tour

Mayberry Soda Fountain on Main Street

Snappy Lunch Diner

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The renaming of Mount Airy as Mayberry is not limited to businesses. The official

tourism website of Mount Airy reads as Visit Mayberry (www.visitmayberry.com). The entire

city brands itself in relation to the famous television show. In addition to the website, there is the

theme song of The Andy Griffith Show that is played along the Main Street of Mount Airy as

character look-alikes from the show greet tourist seeking their “Mayberry” fix.

On Tuesday, October 28, 2003, the TV Land cable channel unveiled a bronze statue

depicting Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) and his young son, Opie (Ron Howard) from The

Andy Griffith Show. Almost a year later, a ceremony was conducted on Friday, September 24,

2004 to kick off the town’s annual 15th Mayberry Days celebration. However, the first statue

was placed in Raleigh in 2003 not in Mount Airy, North Carolina. The Surry Arts Council

pushed the cable television channel for a replicate statue to be installed in the lawn in front of

The Andy Griffith Playhouse as part of a special ceremony.

Mayberry Days Festival

In an attempt to revive a struggling economy, Mount Airy has hosted an annual

“Mayberry Days” festival since 1990, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year from

across the region and the country. People visit the festival to purchase Andy Griffith

memorabilia, meet surviving stars from the show, learn about Griffith’s history and link with

Mount Airy, and socialize with other fans. Tourists go as far as to dress up as their favorite

characters, wait in long lines to get an autograph from celebrity look-alikes/stars of The Andy

Griffith Show, and participate in Mayberry themed events. See Figure 3.2 for photographic

images showing tourist interactions/participation while at the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival.

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Figure 3.2: Photographic Images of Tourist Participation at 2010 Mayberry Days Festival

Autograph with Celebrity Look-alikes

Haircut by Floyd the Barber

Tourists waiting in line for Snappy Lunch

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On a deeper level, tourists are also drawn to the festival by a sense of attachment to

Mayberry as a simpler time and place, even if it is simply replicated in Mount Airy.

The Real Mount Airy

Even today, Mount Airy shows signs of social tension uncharacteristic of the idyllic

Mayberry. In the television community, everyone loved Andy. This is not necessarily the case

in Mount Airy, where vandals defaced the TV Land-commissioned statue of Andy and Opie

Taylor in 2010. The statue stands in front of the Andy Griffith Playhouse and displays the icon

image of Andy and Opie walking hand in hand with fishing rods. Andy’s hair was doused with

green paint and his mouth and badge with red paint. Local authorities never found the culprit

(Joyce, 2010). Around the same time as the statue vandalism, Betty Lou Lynn was robbed of her

wallet in a Mount Airy shopping center. Lynn appeared in Andy Griffith, playing Barney Fife’s

long-time girlfriend, Thelma Lou. Ironically, Lynn moved to Mount Airy from Los Angeles in

2007 wishing to avoid big city crime of California (Joyce, 2010). During the 2010 Mayberry

Days festival, which celebrated the show’s 50th anniversary, a local businessman posted two

signs accusing the city of being anti-small business and racist, citing the lack of African

American cops in Mount Airy (Joyce, 2010). Additionally, there has been a low attendance of

African American tourists to the Mayberry Days Festival. See Figure 3.3 for photographic

images showing evidence of tensions in Mount Airy, North Carolina.

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Figure 3.3: Photographic Images of Tensions in Mount Airy, North Carolina

Defacing of Andy and Opie Statue

Local Business Sign in Mount Airy

Low attendance of African Americans at Mayberry Days Festival

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Crime and the defacing of statues are not the only troubles that Mount Airy has seen

recently. September of 2010 two men were arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine and

methamphetamine in Surry County. When local Surry County sheriff was interviewed by The

Mount Airy News he stated, “That’s one of the things we fight daily” (Staff, 2010). September

2010 also saw four Surry County men all under the age of twenty-five arrested after a two year

undercover narcotics operation with a large possession of methamphetamine. The influx of drug

possession and selling of narcotics has been an issue for Surry County and the town of Mount

Airy but seems to be “swept under the rug” in order to maintain its “moral” small town image.

But not even Sheriff Griffith could possibly solve these hate/drug crimes in a 30-minute show.

In conclusion, Mount Airy has sought to brand itself closely with the fictional community

of Mayberry and its real historical connection with Andy Griffith. As a result, we have a film

tourism destination that attracts a significant number of visitors both during the Mayberry Days

Festival and throughout the year. Understanding who these visitors are, why they visit, and how

they perceive Mount Airy is critical to assessing the sustainability of this form of tourism.

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CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODS

Through mixed research of qualitative and quantitative methods, an investigation was

conducted to understand the demographics and profile of tourists attending the 2010 Mayberry

Days Festival. The exploratory nature of the investigation along with its research objectives

utilized a triangulation method. Triangulation is where more than one method is used to ensure

the validity of the research (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe, & Lowe, 1991; Hussey & Hussey, 1997).

Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in varying ways and degrees. In-depth

interviews and participant observation were utilized to help create a survey to accurately measure

tourist behavior at the Mayberry Days Festival.

Pre-Festival

In June of 2010 my advisor, Dr. Derek Alderman and I visited the town of Mount Airy

and solicited help from Jessica Icenhour, Director of Tourism and Marketing of the Greater

Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center. Ms. Icenhour agreed to assist Dr.

Alderman and me with the distribution of an online survey during the 2010 Mayberry Days

Festival. The online survey was created with the program, Qualtrics and Ms. Icenhour was

informed of all revisions and approached several times for input. Ms. Icenhour worked with the

Surry Arts Council and Executive Director, Ms, Tanya Jones throughout this process and acted

as the intermediary between Ms. Jones and myself. The Surry Arts Council puts on the

Mayberry Days Festival and had the final say in the formatting of the questions for the survey.

During this process all parties were kept up to date with all survey revisions along with the

survey invitations that were being created. The surveys invitations were created that directed the

participant to the survey website (www.mayberrysurvey.com) and the invitations had logos of

both the Center for Sustainable Tourism and the Greater Chamber of Commerce of Mount Airy’s

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on the front of the invitations. Dr. Jay Oliver and Dr. Christy Ashley of East Carolina University

assisted with invitation survey cards and the survey design. The dimensions of the invitations

were 4 1/4 by 3 5/8 inches in size and big enough to get attention and small enough to take with

you (see Appendix B). One thousand invitations were produced on recycled paper and in color

for both the front and back.

It was decided to develop an online survey for this project instead of a hand written

survey because of the festival environment in which the survey would be administered in. An

online survey would not take up time while the visitor was participating at the festival. Instead,

the participant would be able to visit the survey online at their own leisure. Online surveys have

a global reach and are a valued tool to obtaining information from respondents living in different

parts of a country in addition to being at a low cost (Evans, 2005). In addition to the low cost

associated with online surveys, they can be administered in a time-efficient manner and allow the

respondents to take as much time as they need to answer their questions. As Hogg (2003) notes,

instead of being annoyed at an inconvenient time, like at a festival, a respondent can take an

online survey whenever he or she feels it is convenient. This method of an online survey was

chosen to allow for data to be collected in an unobtrusive manner and not to interrupt the flow of

the event and thus interfere with the participants’ experiences (Mackellar, 2008).

Responses for online surveys are also easily tabulated and analyzed reducing the amount

of time to input and code data. The online survey also provides an option to have diverse

questions including a multimedia format. This type of format also leads to the capability to

ensure that respondents answer only questions that pertain specifically to them, thus tailoring the

survey. For instance, the first question of the survey designed for this thesis asked if the

respondent had attended the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival. If they responded no, then they were

40

sent to the “thank you” page of the survey at the end. This allowed the survey to be completed

only by those who identified themselves as attending the festival. The online survey also

allowed for completion of specific questions where the respondent was not allowed to finish the

survey until they answered that question. Online surveys have a much higher item completion

rate than mail surveys; and answers to open-ended questions tend to be longer with online

surveys than with mail surveys (Ilieva, Baron, & Healey, 2002). With this technology, the

survey forced the respondent to answer specific questions in order to complete the survey and

allowed for more information to be collected. Furthermore, the online format allowed for a

specific amount of time for the survey to be “live.” In the case of this survey if it started on the

date of the festival, September 9, 2010 and closed on December 30, 2010.

This online survey consisted of 38 close-ended and open-ended questions to be used to

create a tourist profile, understand how much The Andy Griffith Show influences visitation, and

the overall economic impact the tourists have on their visit to Mount Airy (see Appendix C).

The thirty-eight questions included in the online Mayberry Days Festival survey were organized

along these lines of demographics, to Mayberry Days Festival experience, economic impact and

general impression/perception of Mount Airy. Demographic questions collected data on visitor

origin (zip codes), gender, age, race, marital status, education level, and current occupation.

Questions related to the Mayberry Days Festival experience collected data on how visitors

learned about the festival, the number and age of people traveling with the respondent, whether

2010 was the person’s first festival (if not, how many times had s/he visited previously), the days

attended, length of stay, where the respondent stayed, if the respondent visited the Mount Airy

Chamber of Commerce, what activities the respondent participated in, did the respondent or

member of their festival party have their picture taken with a Mayberry/Andy Griffith Show star

41

and/or character look alike, would the respondent attend the festival again next year, and

satisfaction level of the festival. Questions related to the respondent’s knowledge of The Andy

Griffith Show collected data on if the respondent watched The Andy Griffith Show as child, how

often they currently watch The Andy Griffith Show, and how influential The Andy Griffith Show

is to their visit to the Mayberry Days Festival. Questions relating to expectations and experience

collected data on what motivated the respondent to attend the Mayberry Days Festival, what does

Mayberry mean to the respondent, how many hours were spent at the festival, were the

respondent’s expectations of the festival met, and what were their expectations. Questions

related to the respondent’s economic impact collected data on if the respondent shopped at any

local businesses, what purchases were made in town, how much money was spent at the festival

as an individual and as a travel party. Questions relating to events at the festival collected data

on ranking of activities/places in Mount Airy, overall rating of parts of Mount Airy, based on the

respondent’s experience of Mayberry Days Festival whether they think Mount Airy is a nice

place to live, and finally the respondent’s gross income for 2009.

A five-point Likert scale was used for questions (Question 25, Question 29) where 5

meant ‘extremely influential’ and 1 meant ‘not at all influential’. Questions on festival

attendees’ demographics and trip characteristics were also incorporated into the design of the

questionnaire. The survey was created to assist in understanding the following objectives:

1. To develop a tourist profile of the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival attendee in terms of

socio-demographic characteristics, motivations, perceptions, and economic impact.

2. To determine to what extent tourist motivations to attend the 2010 Mayberry Days

Festival were heavily influenced by The Andy Griffith Show.

42

3. To develop a framework for identifying and analyzing different travel profiles for

those attending the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival based on the behavior and

characteristics of tourists.

4. To discuss connections between sustainability and the Mount Airy case.

A panel interview was conducted seeking the expertise from tourism and marketing

professors from East Carolina University. With the guidance of tourism and marketing

professors, the survey went through numerous alterations and was sent for final review to

Icenhour. Icenhour kept Jones up to date with all revisions throughout this process. Six days

prior to the festival the following email was received from Tanya Jones, the Director of the Surry

Arts Council of the Mayberry Days Festival:

I have shared this survey with objective and informed professionals. This is not a

survey that shows either understanding of The Andy Griffith Show, the Mayberry

Days Festival, or the Mayberry fan. There is absolutely no data that can be

derived from this study that could in any way have meaning or be productive.

(personal communication, September 17, 2010).

This email came as a complete surprise as the survey was shared with Icenhour and Jones

throughout this entire progression. Icenhour insisted that she knew of no “red flags” with the

survey, “Yes Stefanie, I copied you on everything that was responded to me from the previous

emails so I was taken back as well” (personal communication, September 21, 2010). Following

this distressing email, Dr. Alderman sent numerous emails back and forth to Jones trying to

come to some agreement in order to execute the survey as planned for the past three months.

Jones felt that the survey required the “blessing” of an Andy Griffith Show expert to ensure

content validity of the questionnaire and clarity of questions. Therefore, a draft survey was

43

shared with Jim Clark, founder of The Andy Griffith Show Official Fan Club by request of Jones

of the Surry Arts Council. Mr. Clark, the co-author of several books about Mayberry, has been

called "the world's leading authority on Mayberry" because of his many years researching The

Andy Griffith Show (TAGS), interviewing the cast and crew, writing books, organizing and

supporting Mayberry events across the country, founding Weavers Department Store, and

supporting all things Mayberry. A phone conference was held with Mr. Clark and the researcher

for 90 minutes, which resulted in simply the reformatting of some of the questions. The question

regarding events attended by the visitor was expanded from 15 events to 35 and the question

regarding pictures taken with a Mayberry/The Andy Griffith Show/Character Look-alike was

altered as well, “It probably should say something like Mayberry/Andy Griffith Show stars

and/or character look-alikes. As the question reads now, it doesn't include the stars, who are a

much bigger deal at the festival (especially for photos) than the character look-alikes” (personal

communication, September 21, 2010).

Along with Mr. Clark’s edits, the draft survey was pilot tested with tourism/marketing

professors at East Carolina University along with tourism professionals. As suggested by

(Creswell, 2009), this testing is important to establish validity of the questionnaire and improve

questions, format, and the scales of the instrument. Next the questionnaire was modified as a

result of the feedback from the industry leaders and the pilot study, and a finalized version of the

questionnaire was administered. This survey was approved by the Institutional Review Board

(IRB) at East Carolina University (see Appendix A).

Once Mr. Clark approved the survey, it was sent to Ms. Jones along with Ms. Icenhour

for final approval. Both Jones and Icenhour approved the final draft of the survey and the

invitation survey cards were ready to be distributed at the festival.

44

During the Festival

Upon arriving in Mount Airy on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 the first stop made to

distribute the survey invitation cards was to the Chamber of Commerce. Before stopping into the

Chamber, a phone call was received from Jones’ assistant asking where the researcher would like

to distribute the survey invitations. Jones was sent an outline of the proposed stores/venues for

distributing the invitations; however there was no response or feedback from her or her assistant.

Because of that lack of confirmation, a connection was made with Icenhour that same afternoon

and Icenhour indicated that the researcher would be able to distribute the survey invitations to

businesses along Main Street. Icenhour also indicated that the survey invitations could be placed

at the Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce alongside the visitor sign-in book and front desk. She

offered to have her staff assist with the distribution of invitations. Six hundred invitations were

left at the Chamber of Commerce from Wednesday, September 22 through Sunday, September

26, 2010. Icenhour suggested that 100 invitations be placed at the retail store, Mayberry on

Main located on Main Street. The owner of the store is a personal friend of Icenhour and

relocated to Mount Airy specifically for his love of The Andy Griffith Show. After speaking with

the owner, he was more than happy to place the survey invitations at his register of the store.

In addition to the Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce and Mayberry on Main Street

store, survey invitations were placed at the front desk of three hotels/motels that were

highlighted on the Mayberry Days “map” that was created by the Surry Arts Council (see

Appendix D). There was a total of four hotels/motels featured on the map but only three of the

hotels/motels were willing to participate. At each of the hotels/motels, the general manager was

asked if they would be willing to participate in a thesis project that was being conducted in

collaboration with Icenhour and the Chamber of Commerce in order to develop a tourist profile

45

and economic impact study for the Mayberry Days Festival. The researcher assured participating

hotels that the name of managers and the hotel/motel would remain anonymous and the data

collected would be shared with them. All hotels/motels willing to host survey invitations were

filled to capacity and eager to gain information about the Mayberry Days Festival tourist. If a

hotel/motel had more than 100 rooms then 50 invitations were placed at the front desk. If the

hotel/motel had less than 100 rooms then 20 invitations were placed at the front desk.

During the festival, the researcher supervised the distribution of events and the majority

of the activities were either at The Andy Griffith Playhouse, The Andy Griffith Museum,

Blackmon Amphitheater or on Main Street. From Thursday, September 23 through Friday,

September 24, 2010 the researcher observed the tourists around Mount Airy by continually

walking back and forth from Main Street to the Andy Griffith Playhouse. Personal

documentation of the landscape of Mount Airy and tourist participation during the Mayberry

Days Festival were captured using photography and informal discussions with visitors. The

events attended were chosen based on the activity schedule published online via the Surry Arts

Council website. At the events, the researcher observed the behavior of visitors and had social

interaction with guests, asking them where they were from and why they were coming to the

festival.

On the afternoon of Friday, September 24, 2010 observations were made of the

distribution of the survey. The researcher noticed that not many of the survey invitations were

being passed out. Therefore, the researcher distributed by hand one hundred of the survey

invitations originally allotted to the Chamber of Commerce. These invitations were distributed

to visitors waiting in lines to dine at Snappy’s Lunch. This audience was seen as a captured

group and if they were waiting that long in line to dine at Snappy’s Lunch, then they might be

46

willing to participate in a survey. In addition to handing out the survey invitations to the tourists

at Snappy’s Lunch, the last 280 invitations were distributed during the Mayberry Days Parade on

the morning of Saturday, September 25, 2010.

Profile of the Respondent

The responses that were analyzed were from a sampling of visitors who attended the

2010 Mayberry Days Festival and completed the previously described online survey. In total,

1000 survey invitation cards were printed and distributed at the Mount Airy Chambers of

Commerce, Mount Airy hotels, Mount Airy motel, Mayberry on Main retail store, Mayberry

Days Festival Parade as seen in Table 4.1.

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Table 4.1 Final Distribution of Invitation Survey Cards

Venue Number of Survey Cards Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce 500 Hotel A 50 Hotel B 50 Motel A 20 Mayberry on Main 100 Mayberry Days Parade 280 Total 1000

48

Unlike other forms of tourism, festivals attract very specific audiences, depending on the

nature of the event. Indeed it is possible that the surveys were completed by more ‘committed’

and ‘out of town’ than casual or local visitors (Horley, 2006). While handing out the survey

invitations potential respondents were asked if they were interested in filling out an online survey

for a thesis project for East Carolina University. Table 4.2 shows the events that the researcher

observed tourists’ participation at the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival.

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Table 4.2 Events Observed by Researcher at 2010 Mayberry Days Festival

Thursday September 23, 2010 Event Time Venue Address HORSESHOES 9:00 am to dark Horseshoe Pit behind the

Andy Griffith Playhouse 218 Rockford St

MUSIC JAM SESSIONS

7:00 pm - 9:30 pm Old-Time Music Heritage Hall (below Andy Griffith Museum)

218 Rockford St

Friday September 24, 2010 Event Time Venue Address PICKLELAND 10:00 am to 7:00 pm Andy Griffith Playhouse 218 Rockford St MR. TUCKER APPLE PEELING CONTEST

10:00 am to 7:00 pm Information Station at the Andy Griffith Playhouse

218 Rockford St

PIE EATING CONTEST

3:00 pm Andy Griffith Playhouse 218 Rockford St

MAYBERRY DAYS TAGS TRIVIA CONTEST

4:30 pm Blackmon Amphitheatre 218 Rockford St

BOOK SIGNING BY AUTHOR JOEY FANN

6:30 pm Andy Griffith Playhouse 218 Rockford St

Saturday September 25, 2010 Event Time Venue Address MAYBERRY DAYS PARADE

9:00 am Main Street from Independence Blvd to the Andy Griffith Playhouse

OPIE'S PLAYGROUND

10:00 am to Dark Blackmon Amphitheatre Grounds

218 Rockford St

PORK CHOP SANDWICH EATING CONTEST

10:30 am to 2:00 pm (lunch hours) Snappy Lunch 125 North Main St

MAYBERRY "IDLE"

3:00 - 5:00 pm Blackmon Amphitheatre 218 Rockford St

Sunday September 26, 2010 Event Time Venue Address MAYBERRY DAYS CHAPEL

9:30 am Blackmon Amphitheatre 218 Rockford St

50

Post Festival

The survey was left “live” from September 23, 2010 until December 30, 2010. For the

first week there was a low response rate with only 50 responses and the researcher decided to

contact Icenhour to see if additional email addresses could be received from the visitor log that

had been collected during the 2010 festival and previous years. Icenhour provided 100

additional emails where a link of the survey was sent to those visitors to increase the response

rate. In addition to that email recruitment, a link to the Mayberry Days Festival survey and an

invitation to participate were placed on the Mount Airy Facebook Fan Page, which had 4,789

fans (2010) as of September 28, 2010. The posted invitation was specific about wanting

respondents who attended the 2010 festival. As the reader may recall, a question was included in

the survey to make sure that survey-takers were only those who attended the 2010 event.

Facebook is seen as a form of social media and focused on a select group of fans that

were already fans of Mount Airy and possibly The Andy Griffith Show. This posting increased

the response rate by 40% and the total amount of surveys increased to 145. Using Facebook as a

means to increase the response rate can be seen as biased since the “fans” had a pre-liking of

Mount Airy before taking the survey. From the 145 surveys, only 122 were deemed usable since

122 of the respondents visited the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival. The other responses did not

attend the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival therefore, their responses were not used for this thesis.

The 122 usable survey responses were entered into the software, SPSS version 19 and

subsequently analyzed. The visitor profile was analyzed by running frequencies and descriptive

statistics with SPSS version 19. The question, In what State do you currently reside in?

responses were entered into the GIS mapping software to create a map of the United States to

showcase the geographic origin of the visitors. The survey was then adapted to identify themes

51

based on the results from the open-ended questions from the online survey. The question, What

does Mayberry mean to you? was grouped into themes in order to understand the type of tourist

attending 2010 The Mayberry Days Festival. Repetition was used as a technique to identify the

themes (Bernard & Ryan, 2005). The themes were then placed into categories by the researcher

and the Inter-rater reliability technique was used for consistency (Trochim, 2005). Fellow

graduate students were asked to group the themes into their own categories then their categories

were compared to the categories created by the researcher for consistency. The percent of the

agreement of the categories were measured and gave an idea of how much agreement exists.

The themes of open-ended responses along with more qualitative data were used to identify

different categorical types of tourists visiting Mount Airy using McKeller’s (2006) framework as

a guide. The results of the analysis and categorization are presented in the next chapter.

After the categories were established the criteria of the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival

tourist was created. Adapting MacKeller’s (2006) framework three tourist types were identified;

1) amateur; 2) enthusiast; 3) fanatic. Respondents were categorized based on responses to a set

of behaviors while attending the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival.

The three categories seen above help to differentiate the type of tourist attending the 2010

Mayberry Days Festival. By identifying the type of tourist attending the Mayberry Days Festival

will help to understand how influential The Andy Griffith Show is and how sustainable the

festival will be for the future marketing of the town of Mount Airy.

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CHAPTER 5: RESULTS & ANALYSIS

This chapter describes how the online survey data were analyzed and the steps that were

taken to prepare the data. The first section elucidates how the data were cleaned and prepared in

order to run the correct tests. Since the survey consisted of both quantitative and qualitative

questions, different tests were used to analyze the data. The close-ended responses of the online

survey were analyzed with a univariate method to analyze frequency distribution of numeric

codes were attached to pre-noted responses of the close-ended questions where a frequency

distribution was used (Singh & Best, 2004). The open-ended responses were arranged and

evaluated in relation to Lazarfeld’s (1993) notion of complementary grouping. This analysis

groups common themes, trends, patterns, and categories together. In addition to this grouping,

inter-coder reliability was used to confirm the validity by the fellow researcher.

Screening of the Data

First the data were cleaned to eliminate the surveys where the respondent did not attend

the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival. The original data set consisted of 145 surveys and 23 of the

surveys were excluded due to the fact that those respondents answered the first question, Did you

Attend the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival? with a response of “No”. Therefore, these data were

classified as Missing Not at Random (MNAR) and those cases with missing data were omitted in

order to run an analyses on what remained and had value to this study (Howell, 2009). The

resulting usable data yielded a data set of 122 surveys.

The following questions were then coded through SPSS version 19 with the number 1:

Yes; number 2: No for a clean analysis:

Question 12: What age groups are in your traveling party?

Question 19: What activities did you participate in during Mayberry Days Festival?

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Question 26: What is it about the Mayberry Days Festival that motivated you to attend?

Question 32: What did you purchase while you were in town?

These questions through Qualtrics did not have an option to state whether that respondent

participated in that activity or not. Therefore, in order to analyze the question properly the

number 2 was imported through the Data View to correspond to the “no” option.

Socio- Demographic Profile of the Respondents

The frequency distribution of the respondents based on the state of their residence

uncovered that almost half of the respondents were from the state of North Carolina (n=55,

45.1%). The next three states in order of their ranking were Virginia (n=14, 11.5%) followed by

Tennessee (n=7, 5.7%), and Pennsylvania and South Carolina at (n=6, 4.9%) as seen in Table

5.1. The number of tourists coming from North Carolina play into the sustainable factor

showcasing that people are not traveling a great distance to attend the festival therefore their

carbon footprint is perceivably smaller than tourists from other states.

54

Table 5.1: Alphabetical Order of the State of Residence of the Respondents State

State (n) % Alabama 3 2.5 Arizona 1 0.8 Arkansas 1 0.8 Connecticut 1 0.8 Florida 3 2.5 Georgia 3 2.5 Illinois 4 3.3 Indiana 1 0.8 Maine 1 0.8 Maryland 3 2.5 Mississippi 1 0.8 Missouri 1 0.8 New Jersey 1 0.8 New York 1 0.8 North Carolina 55 45.1 Ohio 2 1.6 Pennsylvania 6 4.9 South Carolina 6 4.9 Tennessee 7 5.7 Texas 1 0.8 Virginia 14 11.5 West Virginia 5 4.1 Wisconsin 1 0.8 Total 122 100%

55

The festival is held in Surry County and the majority of attendees were from the zip code

of 27030 which is found in Surry County (Figure 5.1). This would suggest that the festival

attracts local residents of Surry County and these visitors are not travelling far to participate in

the festival. Since they are not travelling as far, they are not emitting large amounts of carbon

dioxide in the air thus reducing their carbon footprint. This could be seen as a sustainable factor

to the festival. Since the show is depicted as being a “southern” show, another reason of the

large amount of visitors from North Carolina attending the festival could be that they relate to the

“southern” living portrayed on the show. Additionally, since most of the visitors are from the

Surry County, the festival can expand their marketing of the festival across North Carolina to

attract more visitors from across the state.

56

Figure 5.1 Mayberry Day Festival Attendees by NC Zip Codes Map

57

The respondents were almost even in terms of gender breakdown with female to male:

female (n=64, 52.5%), and the rest of the 47.5% of the respondents were males (n= 58).

The age category of 51-55 and 56-60 formed the majority of the respondents with each

age category containing (n=23, 18.9%) to combine (n=46, 37.8%) followed by the age category

of 61-65 (n=20, 16.4%) and the age category of 46-50 (n=19, 15.6%). The age groups from 41-

65 formed 69.8% of the total respondents, indicating that the tourists visiting the festival were of

an older age bracket (Table 5.2). These older individuals usually are retired and have a greater

discretionary income. However, these older tourists are literally dying which can alter the

sustainability of the festival.

58

Table 5.2: Distribution of Respondents by Age Category

Age Category (n) % Cumulative % 21-25 2 1.6 1.6 26-30 2 1.6 3.3 31-35 1 0.8 4.1 36-40 8 6.6 10.7 41-45 12 9.8 20.5 46-50 19 15.6 36.1 51-55 23 18.9 54.9 56-60 23 18.9 73.8 61-65 20 16.4 90.2 66-70 6 4.9 95.1 71-75 5 4.1 99.2 81-85 1 0.8 100 Total 122 100%

59

The most frequently cited level of education among respondents was the college degree

(n= 58, 47.5%), followed closely by an education level of high school/GED diploma (n= 40,

32.8%), and 13.9% who had a post-graduate degree (n=20) (Table 5.3). The rest of the

respondent sample consisted of people who had not earned a high school diploma/GED degree

(n=3, 2.5%). The respondents that have a college education tend to have better paying jobs and

therefore more of a discretionary income. Having a larger income can allow for those visitors to

spend more money at the festival and stay longer in Mount Airy.

60

Table 5.3: Distribution of Respondents by Education Education (n) % College Degree 58 47.5 High School Diploma/GED 40 32.8 Post-Graduate Degree 20 13.9 Did not earn High School Diploma or GED 3 2.5 Total 121 100%

61

Table 5.4 displays the frequency distribution of the respondents’ marital status, current

occupation and their gross annual income for 2009. Majority of the respondents were married

(n=93, 76.2%), either professional/technical (n=40, 33.1%) or retired (n=29, 24%) and nearly

half of the respondents had a gross annual income for 2009 of more than $50,000. The

significance of the respondents being married relates to the family values that those respondents

are looking for within a festival atmosphere. The respondents that are retired tend to have more

time and a discretionary income to spend more money at festivals/events. With the majority of

the respondents being retired and having a high income, they are more willing to spend their time

at leisurely activities like the Mayberry Days Festival.

62

Table 5.4: Marital Status/Current Occupation/ Gross Annual Income for 2009 of Respondents Marital Status (n) % Married 93 76.2 Never Married 9 7.4 Widowed 4 3.3 Domestic Partnership 1 0.8 Total 122 100% Occupation (n) % Professional/technical 40 33.1 Manager/proprietor 12 9.9 Clerical 11 9.1 Sales 4 3.3 Crafts/trades 5 4.1 Laborer 3 2.5 Service worker 5 4.1 Retired 29 24.0 Homemaker 5 4.1 Student 1 0.8 Unemployed 1 0.8 Other 5 4.1 Total 121 100% Gross Income for 2009 (n) % Under 25,000 7 6.6 25,000 - 29,999 4 3.8 30,000 – 34,999 10 9.4 35,000 – 39,999 4 3.8 40,000 – 49,999 8 7.5 50,000 – 59,999 20 18.9 60,000 – 84,999 19 17.9 Over 85,000 34 32.1 Total 106 100%

63

An overwhelming proportion of respondents identified themselves as White/Caucasian

race/ethnicity (n=118, 96.7%) while very few minorities completed the survey (Table 5.5).

Minority respondents included Black/African American (n=1, 0.8%), Hispanic or Latino (n=1,

0.8%), Native American or Alaskan Native (n=1, 0.8%) and other (n=1, 0.8%). The proportion

of White/Caucasian tourists to the festival prove how little of an influence the festival has on

minorities. Additionally, The Andy Griffith Show did not have any minority characters thus not

necessarily appealing to minority groups. Minority groups growing up might not have watched

The Andy Griffith Show since it did not appeal to them. Marketing to these minority groups

could increase the amount of tourists coming to the festival.

64

Table 5.5 Distribution of Race/Ethnicity

Race/Ethnicity (n) % White/Caucasian 118 96.7 Black/African American 1 0.8 Hispanic or Latino 1 0.8 Native American or Alaskan Native 1 0.8 Other 1 0.8 Total 122 100%

65

Compared to other specialty festivals held in the Mount Airy area, the visitor profile for

the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival attendee appears to be very similar to the type of tourist going

to these events. In 2009 a study was conducted to compare three events; 1) Mayberry Days

Festival, 2) North Carolina Hog Rally, and 3) the Pilot Mountain Cruise In (Byrd & Beedle

2009). The average age for the festival attendee for all three events was 52 years and a 50/50

split of female to male visitors. Respondents indicated that they had an average education level

in the range of 1-2 years post high school and almost 72% of all event goers reported a family

income of $50,000 or above. These statistics concluded by the 2009 study are very similar to the

visitor profile created for the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival attendee (Byrd & Beedle 2009).

This would suggest that the respondents to this study and the online survey are representative of

the larger population of festival goers.

Tourist Behavior of the Respondent

Over half of the respondents were repeat visitors to the festival (n=68, 55.7%) with some

of the respondent’s attending the festival over 20 times (n=8, 6.6%). The repeat visitors seem to

be loyal viewers of The Andy Griffith Show and could be a reflection of the 50th anniversary of

The Andy Griffith Show.

Respondents were asked how many days they attended the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival

(Table 5.6). Seventy of the respondents were at the festival 1-2 days (n=70, 57.4%) while 52 of

the respondents were at the festival 3 or more days (n=52, 42.6%). With respondent’s staying

longer at the festival, they tend to spend more money in the town and have a greater economic

impact.

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Table 5.6 Distribution of Days Attended

Days Attended at Festival (n) % 1 Day 41 33.6 2 Days 29 23.8 3 Days 36 29.5 4 Days 16 13.1 Total 122 100%

67

Almost half of the respondents stayed in a venue other than a hotel/motel (n= 52, 44.8%)

and out of these 52 respondents who did not stay in a hotel, 26.7% stayed in their own residence

(Table 5.7). This figure corresponds with data that shows a sizable number of attendees coming

from the state of North Carolina. The rest of the respondents stated that they stayed in a

hotel/motel (n=64, 55.2%) in addition to a camping site (n=8, 6.9%), with friends/family (n=5,

4.3%), or at a bed and breakfast (n=2, 1.7%).

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Table 5.7 Distribution of Where the Respondents Stayed During Their Visit

Stayed at (n) % Hotel/Motel 64 55.2 Own residence 31 26.7 Camping Site 8 6.9 Other 6 5.2 Friends/Family 5 4.3 Bed and Breakfast 2 1.7 Total 116 100%

69

The respondents were asked to mark all the activities that they participated in during their

visit to the 2010 Mayberry Days festival (Table 5.8). Thirty-five activities were listed and the

Mayberry Days Parade was attended the most by the respondents (n=82, 67.2%) which was on

Saturday, September, 25. The Andy Griffith Museum (n=72, 59%), Vendor Booths (n=55,

45.1%), Mayor’s Proclamation (n=46, 37.7%) Autograph Signings of The Andy Griffith Show

Stars (n=35, 28.7%), Colonel Tim’s Talent Time (n=33, 27%), The Doug Dillard Band Concert

(n=32, 26.2%) all were highly attended at the festival. None of the respondents stated that they

participated in the Chester Jones Checkers Tournament or Horseshoes events. With the majority

of the respondents visiting The Andy Griffith Museum and Vendor Booths shows that although

they are interested in Andy Griffith, they are also interested in vendor booths not necessarily

dealing with The Andy Griffith Show. The respondents are looking for more booths to purchase

souvenirs at that are not necessarily themed Andy Griffith.

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Table 5.8 Distribution of Activities Participated In Activity Name (n) Cumulative % Mayberry Days Parade 82 67.2 Andy Griffith Museum 72 59.0 Vendor Booths 55 45.1 Mayor’s Proclamation 46 37.7 Autograph Signings of TAGS Stars 35 28.7 Colonel Tim’s Talent Time 33 27.0 The Doug Dillard Band Concert 32 26.2 NC State BBQ Championship 24 19.7 Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Jam Sessions 24 19.7 Karen Knotts inn “Tied in Knotts” 22 18.0 WBMUTBB Silent Auction 19 15.6 Professor Neal Brower Lecture/TAGSRWC Annual Meeting 19 15.6 Mayberry Days TAGS Trivia Contest 17 13.9 Mayberry Days Chapel 15 12.3 Screenings of TAGS Episodes with Stars 15 12.3 Mayberry Days Golf Banquet 12 9.8 VW Boys “Salute to Mayberry” 10 8.2 Little Blue Choo Choo 10 8.2 Michael Hoover’s “Memories of Elvis” 9 7.4 Mayberry Minuteman Youth TAGS Trivia Contest 9 7.4 Pickleland 7 5.7 Mayberry Days Golf Tournament 7 5.7 Band of Oz 7 5.7 Mrs. Wiley’s Tea Party 6 4.9 Mayberry Idle/Talent Contest 6 4.9 Mayberry Amped: The Rafe Hollister Band 6 4.9 Opie’s Playground 4 3.3 An Afternoon with James Best Show 3 2.5 Bobby Osborne and Rocky Top X-Press 3 2.5 Pork Chop Sandwich Eating Contest 1 0.8 Mr. Tucker Apple Peeling Contest 1 0.8 Pie Eating Contest 1 0.8 Vessels of Clay Concert 1 0.8 Chester Jones Checkers Tournament 0 100 Horseshoes 0 100

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Mayberry/The Andy Griffith Show star and/or character look-alikes were walking the

streets of Mount Airy throughout the festival. Respondents had the chance to take a picture with

the look-alike at no cost. The majority of the respondents indicated that they took their picture

with a Mayberry/The Andy Griffith Show star and/or character look-alike at the festival (n=79,

66.4%). This is significant because it is showing the extra step the respondents are taking to

immerse themselves in the fictional setting of Mayberry and be apart of the performance of the

festival. Respondents still want that extra experience of being apart of Mayberry.

Economic Impact of Tourist

An overwhelming proportion of respondents answered yes to a question asking if they

had shopped at local businesses during their visit to the festival (n=107, 93%). Respondents

were asked during the survey what type of purchases they made at the 2010 Mayberry Days

Festival and were able to choose more than one category thus resulting in a cumulative

percentage of more than 100% (Table 5.9). The most popular purchase made was of Andy

Griffith/Mayberry Themed Souvenirs (n=68, 55.7%) followed closely by Mount Airy Souvenirs

(n=50, 41%). There is a difference between the souvenirs with The Andy Griffith Show theme

compared to the town of Mount Airy theme. In addition, “non-Andy Griffith Show/Mayberry”

theme purchases were (n=131, 107.4%) compared to “Andy Griffith Show/Mayberry” theme

purchases (n=156, 127.7%) which proves that The Andy Griffith Show/Mayberry theme is not

that dominate of a presence when compared to non-Andy Griffith Show/Mayberry theme.

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Table 5.9 Distribution of Purchases Made Type of Purchase Made (n) CCumulative % Andy Griffith/Mayberry Themed Souvenirs 68 55.7 Mount Airy Souvenirs 50 41.0 Antiques/Collectibles/Crafts 39 32.0 Pork Chop Sandwich from Snappy Lunch 38 31.1 Event Tickets 31 25.4 N.C. State Championship Barbeque 26 21.3 Local Wine 16 13.1 Squad Car Tour 12 9.8 Haircut by “Floyd the Baber” 7 5.7

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As an individual, over 20% of the respondents answered that they spent between $0-100

while 52.9% of the respondents answered that they spent over $100. Over 25% of respondents

indicated spending $0-50, but the questions would have been better stated to begin with $1 rather

than $0 in order to differentiate those who spent something from those who spent nothing.

Different than the individual response, 76.3% of the respondents answered that as a travel party

they spent over $101 (n=84, 76.3%). Distribution of individual versus travel party spending is

seen in Table 5.10. This is significant since the larger the travel party, the more money spent

perhaps on more food, hotel, or souvenirs.

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Table 5.10 Distribution of Individual Versus Total Travel Party Spending Individual (n) % $0-50 22 25.9 $51-100 18 21.2 $101-125 8 9.4 $126-175 7 8.2 $176-250 8 9.4 $251-350 7 8.2 $351-450 5 5.9 $451-550 2 2.4 $515-Above 8 9.4 Total 85 100% Total Travel Party (n) % $0-50 10 11.9 $51-100 10 11.9 $101-125 13 15.5 $126-175 5 6.0 $176-250 10 11.9 $251-350 11 13.1 $351-450 4 4.8 $451-550 3 3.6 $515-Above 18 21.4 Total 84 100%

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Tourist Satisfaction Level

Over 89% of respondents indicate that they plan to attend the 2011 Mayberry Days

Festival. Over half of the respondents (57.1%) indicated that they were very satisfied with the

2010 Mayberry Days Festival where only 4.1% answered neutral to very dissatisfied. On a

Likert-scale of expectations ranging from 1-5 (1: not at all met to 5: extremely met) 94.9% of

respondents answered that their expectations were met at the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival with

47.9% indicating that their expectations were extremely met (Table 5.11). This is a major

finding proving that the festival went far beyond the tourist’s expectations and that the

respondents will be willing to attend the festival in the future. Additionally, with such high

satisfaction levels and their expectations being met, the respondents “word of mouth” would be

positive influencing other tourists to visit the festival.

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Table 5.11 Distribution of Tourist Satisfaction Level/Expectations

Level of Satisfaction Very Dissatisfied 1 0.8 Dissatisfied 2 1.7 Somewhat Dissatisfied 1 0.8 Neutral 1 0.8 Somewhat Satisfied 17 14.3 Satisfied 29 24.4 Very Satisfied 68 57.1 Total 119 100% Expectations Met 1: Not at all met 2 1.7 2 4 3.4 3 15 12.8 4 40 34.2 5: Extremely met 56 47.9 Total 117 100% Based on a scale where 1 = Not at all met to 5 = Extremely met

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In one of the survey’s open-ended questions, respondents were asked to type in their

expectations of the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival (Table 5.12). The researcher (with inter-coder

reliability) themed the responses where Fun and Good Times (n=24, 32%) and Festival

Events/Music/Stars (n=21, 28%) as the biggest expectations of the respondents. Respondents

were expecting a “good time” at the festival and seeking events that revolved around music and

“stars” of The Andy Griffith Show in order to exceed their hopes. They felt that their

expectations were met at the festival.

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Table 5.12 Distribution of Expectation Themes Theme of Expectation (n) % Fun and Good Times 24 32 Festival Events/Music/Stars 21 28 More events/food/stars 15 20 Expectations met/exceeded 6 8 No expectations/natural 6 8 Small town atmosphere 3 4 Total 75 100%

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The vast majority (97.4%) of respondents answered yes to a question asking them if they

thought that Mount Airy is a nice place to live based on their experience of the 2010 Mayberry

Days Festival (n=112, 97.4%).

Respondents were then asked to rate numerous parts of Mount Airy from a scale of

excellent, good, fair, poor, and don’t know. The categories that received the highest ratings

overall in the excellent category were shopping on Main Street, law enforcement, friendliness of

locals, and general appearance of Mount Airy. The categories that received the highest ratings

overall in the good category were parking and streets, street signs, festival signage, residential

neighborhoods, accommodations, and restaurants which can also be seen as parts of Mount Airy

that the tourists enjoyed. The category that received the highest rating in the fair category

compared to the other categories was festival signage and the only category that received the

highest rating of “don’t know” was recycling. This is significant in that tourists visiting Mount

Airy are not satisfied with the festival signage and recycling of the town but this seems to

override their happiness with the locals, shopping, and over appearance of Mount Airy.

Tourist Motivations

Respondents were asked to mark all the factors that motivated them to attend the 2010

Mayberry Days Festival (Table 5.13). Not surprisingly, The Andy Griffith Show played a major

role in motivating them to attend the festival (n=98, 80.3%) as well as the idea of walking the

streets that Andy Griffith walked (n=47, 38.5%). However, motivations such as stepping “back

in time” (n=77, 63.1%), festival atmosphere (n=61, 50%), attending small town activities (n=53,

43.4%) and visiting family and/or friends (n=25, 20.5%) were also listed high as motivations and

are not necessarily related to Andy Griffith or The Andy Griffith Show. These results suggest

that although The Andy Griffith Show is a large motivation in pulling tourists to Mount Airy the

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respondents are also seeking the experience of a festival atmosphere along with small town

activities.

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Table 5.13 Distribution of Motivations to Attend Motivated By (n) Cumulative % The Andy Griffith Show 98 80.3 Step “back in time” 77 63.1 Festival atmosphere 61 50.0 Attend small town activities 53 43.4 To walk the streets that Andy Griffith walked 47 38.5 Visiting family and/or friends 25 20.5

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Influence of The Andy Griffith Show on the tourist

The vast majority (94%) of respondents answered yes to whether they watched The Andy

Griffith Show as a child (Table 5.14). Over half of the respondents indicated that they watch The

Andy Griffith Show 2-3 times a week (n=38, 32.2%) or daily (n=29, 24.6%). Less than 12% of

the respondents never watch (n=4, 3.4%) or only watch The Andy Griffith Show less than once a

month (n=10, 8.5%). These results prove that The Andy Griffith Show has had a major influence

on the respondent’s choice to visit the festival in addition to their daily viewing of the show.

Respondents are choosing to continue to watch the show presently as a way to reconnect with

their childhood.

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Table 5.14 Distribution of How Often The Andy Griffith Show is Viewed How Often (n) % Never 4 3.4 Less than once a month 10 8.5 Once a month 4 3.4 2-3 times a month 20 16.9 Once a week 13 11.0 2-3 times a week 38 32.2 Daily 29 24.6 Total 118 100%

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On a five-point Likert scale (1: Not at all influential- 5: Extremely influential) more than

half of the respondents answered that The Andy Griffith Show was extremely influential (n=8,

67.8%) to their visit to the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival (Table 5.15). However, 5.9% of

respondents included that the show was not at all influential to their visit. Moreover 11% select

3- which indicated that they were in the middle about the influence of the show. This is

significant in that the majority of respondents felt extremely influenced by The Andy Griffith

Show to their visit to the festival thus perhaps influencing other travel party members to attend

the festival with them. Perhaps in future years, the respondents who answered “extremely

influential” might not have such an influence on others to attend the festival.

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Table 5.15 Distribution of How Influential The Andy Griffith Show is on Decision to Visit

How Influential (n) % 1: Not at all influential 7 5.9 2 3 2.5 3 13 11.0 4 15 12.7 5: Extremely influential 80 67.8 Total 118 100% Based on a scale where 1= Not at all influential to 5 = Extremely influential

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In another open-ended question, respondents were asked to type in what Mayberry meant

to them (Table 5.16). Nostalgia (n=31, 29.5%) appears to be one of the dominant themes based

on the responses. This question was confirmed with an inter-coder reliability test. Also

important was the fact that respondent’s answers indicate that Andy Griffith was not a major

theme in people’s responses. Perhaps respondents were taking elements from The Andy Griffith

Show and seeking that experience with the festival.

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Table 5.16 Distribution of Mayberry Meaning by Themes

Themes (n) % Nostalgia 31 29.5 Small Town/Homey Feel 26 24.5 Simple Time 24 22.9 Escapism 18 17.4 Andy Griffith 6 5.7 Total 105 100%

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Type of Tourist

Adapting MacKeller’s (2006) framework three tourist types were identified; 1) amateur;

2) enthusiast; 3) fanatic. Respondents were categorized based on responses to a set of behaviors

while attending the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival and grouped into three categories (Table 5.17).

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Table 5.17: Summary of Key Festival Behaviors

Amateur Category Enthusiast Category Fanatic Category Attended Festival 0-1 Day Attended Festival 2-3 days Attended Festival > 3 days

Participated in 0-5 events at Festival

Participated in 6-10 events at Festival

Participated in > 10 events at Festival

Did not have a picture taken with a Mayberry/Andy Griffith Show star and/or character look-alike at Festival

Had a picture taken with a Mayberry/Andy Griffith Show star and/or character look-alike at Festival

Had a picture taken with a Mayberry/Andy Griffith Show star and/or character look-alike at Festival

Purchased local wine, Mount Airy Souvenirs, N.C. State Championship Barbeque, antiques/collectibles/crafts, and/or event tickets

Purchased squad car tour, Andy Griffith/Mayberry themed souvenirs and/or Amateur purchases

Purchased haircut by Floyd the Barber and/or Amateur and Enthusiasts purchases

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Type of Tourist Based on number of Days Spent at Festival

The number of days that a respondent attended the festival placed that respondent into a

category to define them as a type of Mayberry Days Festival tourist (Table 5.18). Three

categories were created based on the number of days spent at the festival; 1) category 1: 0-1Day

(n=41, 33.6%), 2) category 2: 2-3 Days (n=29, 23.8%), and 3) category 3: >4 Days (n=52,

42.6%).

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Table 5.18 Distribution of Festival Attendance

Days Attended at Festival (n) % 0-1 Day 41 33.6 2-3 Days 29 23.8 > 4 Days 52 42.6 Total 122 100%

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Figure 5.2 displays the distribution of types of tourist based on the number of days spent

at the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival. If the respondent answered that they spent 0-1 Day at the

festival they were grouped into the amateur category (n=41, 33.6%). If the respondent answered

that they spent 2-3 Days at the festival than they were grouped into the enthusiast category

(n=29, 23.8%). If the respondent answered that they spent more than 4 Days at the festival then

they were categorized into the fanatic category (n=52, 42.6%).

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Figure 5.2 Type of Tourist Based on the Number of Days Spent

Type of Tourist (N=122)

Amateur

Enthusiast

Fanatic

33.6% n=41

23.8% n=29

42.6% n=52

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Type of Tourist Based on Events

The number of events that the respondent participated in was also a major influence in

categorizing the type of Mayberry Days tourist (Table 5.19). The largest category that the

respondents participated in was 0-5 events (n=73, 59.8%), followed by 6-10 events (n=36,

29.6%), >10 events (n=13, 10.6%).

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Table 5.19 Distribution of the Events Participated In

Number of Events (n) % 0 - 5 73 59.8 6 - 10 36 29.6 > 10 13 10.6 Total 122 100%

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Figure 5.3 displays the distribution of types of tourist based on the number of events

participated at the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival. If respondents answered that they participated

in 0-5 events at the festival (n=73, 59.8%) then they were categorized in the amateur category.

If respondents answered that they participated in 6-10 events at the festival (n=36, 29.6%) then

they were categorized in the enthusiast category. If respondents answered that they participated

in more than 10 events then they were categorized in the fanatic category (n=13, 10.6%).

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Figure 5.3 Type of Tourist Based on Number of Events Participated

Type of Tourist N=122

Amateur

Enthusiast

Fanatic

10.7% n=13

59.8 % n=73

29.5% n=36

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Cluster Analysis

A two-step cluster analysis was used as an exploratory tool designed to reveal natural

groupings or cluters within the dataset that would otherwise not be apparent. Two clusters

formed based on several characteristics ranging from age, gender, and the number of events

participated in at the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival (Table 5.20). Two clusters formed and were

named based on those characteristics: Amateur and Fanatic. The amateur group averged three

events while the fanatic group avereged ten events: Amateur (n=79, 66.9%) and Fanatic (n=39,

33.1%). Based on the two groups from the cluster anayslis, tests were run to analyize the data

further.

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Table 5.20 Distribution of Cluster Groups Based on Events

Cluster Group (n) % Amateur 79 66.9 Fanatic 39 33.1 Total 118 100%

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North Carolina was grouped as one factor and the other states where respondents were

from was grouped as “other” factor. Next a cross tabulation analysis was conducted comparing

the cluster group to the state of origin of the respondent (Table 5.21). The amateur cluster had

more respondents from North Carolina compared to the fanatic cluster (x2 = 8.03, p < .05).

Amateurs are less willing to travel further to the festival compared to fanatics who are more

willing to travel farther.

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Table 5.21 Distribution of Cluster Groups Based on State of Origin

State Cluster Group Other North Carolina Total (n) % (n) % Amateur 37 46.8 42 53.2 79 Fanatic 29 74.4 10 25.6 39 Total 66 52 118

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A cross tabulation was conducted between the cluster group and whether the respondent

in that group took a picture with a Mayberry/Andy Griffith Show Star/Character during the 2010

Mayberry Days Festival (Table 5.22). The amateur cluster group had a lower participation

percentage (55.6%) compared to the fanatic cluster group (87.2%).

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Table 5.22 Distribution of Cluster Groups Based on Participation of Having Photograph Taken

with a Mayberry/Andy Griffith Show Star/Character Look-alike

Picture Taken % per cluster Total Cluster Group (n) % Amateur 44 55.6 79 Fanatic 34 87.2 39 Total 78 118

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The purchases that were listed on the survey were grouped into two theme categories by

the researcher:

1: Mayberry/The Andy Griffith Show Category

- Event Tickets

- Andy Griffith/Mayberry Themed Souvenirs

- Haircut by “Floyd the Barber”

- Squad Car Tour

- Pork Chop Sandwich from Snappy Lunch

2. Mount Airy Category

- Antiques/Collectibles/Crafts

- Mount Airy Souvenirs

- Local Wine

- N.C. State Championship Barbeque

The total number of respondents for the amateur cluster (n=79) was compared to the total

number of respondents for the fanatic cluster (n=39) and percentages for each purchase category

were factored according to the total per cluster group. The fanatic cluster had a larger purchase

percentage in four out of the five categories compared to the amateur cluster (Table 5.23). The

highest percentage of purchases made by the fanatic cluster was The Andy Griffith

Show(TAGS)/Mayberry Theme Souvenirs (76.9%) and the highest percentage for the amateur

cluster for purchases made was also the TAGS/Mayberry Theme Souvenirs (46.8%).

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Table 5.23 Mayberry/The Andy Griffith Show Theme Category Purchases by Cluster Groups

Type of Purchases

Event Ticket

TAGS /Mayberry

Theme Souvenirs

Haircut by “Floyd”

Squad Car Tour

Pork Chop Sandwich

from Snappy Lunch

Cluster Group (n) % (n) % (n) % (n) % (n) % Amateur 5 6.3 37 46.8 2 2.5 8 10.1 20 10.3 Fanatic 26 66.7 30 76.9 5 12.8 4 10.3 18 46.2

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The total amount of respondents for the amateur cluster (n=79) was compared to the total

respondents for the fanatic cluster (n=39) and percentages for each purchase category was

factored according to the total per cluster group. The fanatic cluster had a larger purchase

percentage in four out of the five categories compared to the amateur cluster (Table 5.24). The

highest percentage of purchases made by the fanatic cluster was Mount Airy Souvenirs (53.8%)

and the highest percentage for the amateur cluster for purchases made was also Mount Airy

Souvenirs (36.7%). The amateur cluster had purchased more local wine compared to the fanatic

cluster.

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Table 5.24 Mount Airy Theme Category Purchases by Cluster Groups

Type of Purchases

Antiques Mount Airy Souvenirs Local Wine

N.C. State Championship

Barbeque Cluster Group (n) % (n) % (n) % (n) % Amateur 23 29.1 29 36.7 13 16.5 8 10.1 Fanatic 16 41.0 21 53.8 3 7.8 17 43.6

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Chapter Summary

The current chapter investigated the objectives related to the purposes of the thesis. The

inquiry revealed that film/television induced tourism is a multi-dimensional concept. The rest of

the thesis hypotheses were tested and the results were described (Table 5.25).

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Table 5.25 Major Findings

Objective Findings Develop a tourist profile of the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival attendee

Tourist attending the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival was predominately a 50-65 year old white/Caucasian, male/female living in North Carolina. The typical tourist is married, has a college degree, and a professional grossing over $50,000 in 2009.

Determine if the tourist motivations to attend the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival was heavily influenced by The Andy Griffith Show

Majority of tourists visiting the Mayberry Days Festival were motivated by The Andy Griffith Show and watched the show as a child.

Examine the characteristics and behavior of tourists attending the festival through the events they attended

Tourists were classified into two significant clusters: Amateur and Fanatic Tourist. The amateur tourist was identified as the tourist who participated in less than five events and purchased more Mount Airy theme souvenirs. The fanatic tourist participated in more than five events and purchased more The Andy Griffith Show/Mayberry theme souvenirs.

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CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, AND FUTURE RESEARCH

Introduction

In this chapter, the researcher provides a summary of findings, professional

implementations, and recommendations for future research. The summary of findings revisits

the objectives, methodologies, and key findings within the thesis. The implementation section

indicates how film-induced tourism can be implemented in a professional practice situation.

Lastly, the recommendations for future research will highlight additional research projects based

on the original thesis project.

Summary of Findings

The fact that Mount Airy brands itself as the fictional town of Mayberry questions how

long the town can continue to attract tourists to the town strictly on the basis of the influence of

The Andy Griffith Show. Tourists venture to festivals for specific reasons based on the theme of

the festival. However, do tourists traveling to Mount Airy only venture to the town based on

their extreme love for The Andy Griffith Show? Or are tourists venturing to the town as a way to

“escape” and “step back in time”? Understanding the type of travelers who visit Mount Airy and

what motivates tourists to visit is an important issue. Tourist leaders in Mount Airy have not

devoted significant attention to developing a tourist profile. Development of such a profile is

necessarily not only for effective tourism planning but also to address the sustainability of

Mayberry-based tourism into the future.

To understand what type of tourist attended the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival, an online

survey was implemented to create a tourist profile, determine if the tourist motivations to attend

the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival was heavily influenced by The Andy Griffith Show, and to

examine the characteristics and behavior of tourists attending the festival through the events they

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attended. These characteristics and behaviors served as the basis for creating a typological

framework for categorizing the type of tourist attending the festival. Survey invitation cards

were placed at strategic venues and distributed by the researcher to tourists at the festival.

Additionally, social media was used as a technique to increase survey responses with the help of

the Mount Airy Facebook page increasing the total responses to 122.

The typical tourist attending the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival predominately was a

married (n=92, 76.2%), 51-65 year old (n=66, 54.2%), white/Caucasian (n=118, 96.7%), a

person living in North Carolina (n=55, 45.1%), with a college degree (n=58, 47.5%), with an

income of over $50,000 in 2009 (n=73, 68.9%). Most of the tourists stayed at a hotel/motel

(n=64, 55.2%) and shopped at local businesses (n=107, 93%). Andy Griffith/Mayberry themed

souvenirs were the most popular purchase made at the festival by the tourist (n=68, cumulative

55.7%) and the majority of tourists had their picture taken with a Mayberry/TAGS star and/or

character (n=79, 66.4%).

Tourists at the festival were very satisfied with their experience with the 2010 Mayberry

Days Festival (n=68, 57.1%) and felt that their expectations were extremely met (n=56, 47.9%).

Fun and good times was a popular expectation of the tourist (n=24, 32%) followed closely by a

festival/event/music/star expectation (n=21, 28%). The majority of tourists responded that they

will attend the 2011 Mayberry Days Festival (n=107, 89.9%) and felt that Mount Airy is a nice

place to live (n=112, 97.4%).

Majority of the tourists visiting the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival were motivated by The

Andy Griffith Show (n=98, cumulative 80.3%) followed closely by the possibility of stepping

“back in time” (n=77, cumulative 63.1%) and the festival atmosphere (n=61, cumulative 50%).

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An overwhelming 94% of the tourists watched The Andy Griffith Show as a child (n=110) and

felt that the show was extremely influential in their visit to the festival (n=80, 67.8%).

According to the tourist, the idea of Mayberry brought a feeling of nostalgia (n=31, 29.5%),

followed closely by a small town/homey feel (n=26, 24.5%) and a simple time (n=24, 22.9%).

The Andy Griffith Show was seen as the least popular theme of what Mayberry meant to the

respondent (n=6, 5.7%) showcasing that there is more meaning behind the idea of Mayberry than

simply The Andy Griffith Show.

The cluster analysis was used to group Mayberry Days tourists into two distinct groups

by the cluster analysis technique. The amateur tourist (n=79, 66.9%) and the fanatic tourist

(n=39, 33.1%) were the two cluster groups based on the tourist state of origin and the number of

events that the respondent participated in at the festival. Overall the amateur cluster was from

the state of North Carolina (n=42, 53.2%), had their picture taken with a Mayberry/TAGS

star/Character look-alike (n=44, % per cluster 55.6%), and purchased more Mount Airy themed

souvenirs (n=29, 36.7%). The fanatic cluster was not from North Carolina (n=29, 74.4%), had

their picture taken with a Mayberry/TAGS star/Character look-alike (n=34, % per cluster

87.2%), and purchased more TAGS/Mayberry Theme Souvenirs (n=30, 76.9%).

In this study the majority of tourists attending the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival are

considered amateur tourists and looking for a small, simple town atmosphere in order to escape

their everyday lives. Although The Andy Griffith Show is an influence and a motivator and

clearly part of the Mount Airy experience. It is not necessarily the main motivation for attending

the festival. The tourists are looking for a festival that encompasses what The Andy Griffith

Show portrays but not everything necessary has to do with Andy Griffith. Additionally, the type

of tourist attending The Mayberry Days Festival tends to be in their late 50s and this leads to the

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issue of how sustainable the festival will be in fifty years as this traveler dies out literally and in

market importance. Therefore, it is important to compile profiles of tourists venturing to

festivals like the Mayberry Days Festival in order to understand how sustainable these festivals

are for future generations.

Additionally, the tourist in their late 50s grew up with a limited amount of television

shows to watch thus forming an attachment and creating a bond with fellow festival goers.

However, generations after the Baby Boomers have access to numerous amounts of television

shows and will not grow up with a common television show.

Implementation

This study will assist the Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce in planning future events in

the town of Mount Airy, North Carolina. The chamber will be able to understand the type of

tourist that is attracted to Mount Airy and what they are expecting at the festival. It is important

to define the type of tourist attracted to specific themed festivals, like the Mayberry Days

Festival, to see if these events are truly sustainable for future years to come. If the tourist

profiles collected state that the tourists coming to such festivals do not plan on attending future

events, or their expectations are not being met, then the town must reevaluate their plan for

continuing the theme-specific festivals in order to sustain the popularity of the festival.

Furthermore, this study can assist in the future filming of television shows and films

especially within the state of North Carolina. The North Carolina Film Office can lobby for

more competitive film incentives based off of the success of such television shows like The

Andy Griffith Show and continue attracting studios/scouts to choose North Carolina as a

film/television destination to use. Additionally, this study can provide an insight within the

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academic setting showcasing alternative forms of tourism proving how influential film/television

shows are to a location.

Recommendations for Future Research

Further research on the town of Mount Airy, specifically looking at the influence of The

Andy Griffith Show on the local African American residents would help to surface any racial

tensions that may be associated to their town being marketed as Mayberry. The choice of

excluding African Americans in the cast was a decision made by Griffith and the producers of

The Andy Griffith Show. Although Griffith regretted the decision, he explained that African

Americans at the time did not want to be portrayed in servant roles and “there is no way in some

small town in the South that white people were going to flock to a black doctor or lawyer”

(Funk, 1993, p.1E). In Griffith’s attempt to “keep the show honest” to the working class culture

of the South (or at least as he saw it), he perpetrated a dishonesty toward African Americans.

Mount Airy does have African American residents (8% of the 8,484 people in 2000), and some

of them express concern that a celebration of Mayberry is not relatable to their culture and

heritage. To find no significant place for African Americans in Mayberry is disturbing given the

important role they play in America’s working class history and how they represent a significant

proportion of the South and North Carolina (over 20% of the state population). Working with

local African American residents and local NAACP chapters in Mount Airy will open up

dialogue of how they feel about having their town being represented and marketed as Mayberry.

Additionally, a volunteer employed photography project could be implemented. This

technique gives the respondent a disposable camera to document what they like and dislike about

their town through photographic images. The African American perception of the town of

Mount Airy can be compared to the Caucasian residents of Mount Airy to see how

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similar/different they perceive the town of Mount Airy. This would be helpful in understanding

how different ethnicities view their town and if The Andy Griffith Show still has an impact on

their daily lives. If so, is this impact a negative or positive influence on the branding of Mount

Airy and should the town start to market themselves differently to escape the Mayberry theme to

attract different tourists to the town.

Surveying tourists visiting Mount Airy during non-festival dates would be another future

research project. Developing tourist profiles during off-peak dates could benefit the Mount Airy

Chamber of Commerce and Surry Arts Council in analyzing how much pull theme specific

events like Mayberry Days has on the town and if it is necessary to continue to invest in a pop-

culture festival. Mount Airy could possibly remarket and brand themselves differently based on

the responses from tourist profile surveys during non-festival dates. An event based on the non-

festival tourist expectations could be the next festival to possible replace Mayberry Days.

Furthermore, it is also important in future research to be aware of the politics of research

and sensitive to the needs of the community. Not all communities are open to research therefore

it is important to get the community on board with what is being investigated and let them know

that not all research is necessarily negative.

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APPENDICES

Appendix A: IRB Approval

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Appendix B: Invitation Survey Card

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Appendix C: Mayberry Days Survey Mayberry Days Festival You have been asked to participate in a study conducted by Stefanie Benjamin, graduate student at East Carolina University. The goal of the study is to better understand why people are visiting the Mayberry Days Festival and what their economic impact is. You have been asked to provide responses to an online survey that will last approximately 7-10 minutes. The information you provide will be strictly private and used only for these purposes. INFORMED CONSENT I have been asked to participate in a research study being carried out by Stefanie Benjamin. I understand the purpose of the research and that the potential risks to me are minimal. I understand that any information I provide will be kept private and confidential. I understand that my participation in this study is voluntary and that I may stop at any time I choose. Should I at any time have any questions about this research, the investigator will be available to answer them. Also, if I have any questions about my rights in this research, I may contact the Chair of the University and Medical Center Institutional Review Board at (252)-816-2914. I have read and/or understood all of the above information, asked questions and have received satisfactory answers in areas I did not understand. By clicking the next button on the bottom right hand corner of this screen, you are consenting to the statements above.

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Did you attend the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival? m Yes m No

What is your home ZIP Code? In what state do you currently reside? m Alabama m Alaska m Arizona m Arkansas m California m Colorado m Connecticut m Delaware m District of Columbia m Florida m Georgia m Hawaii m Idaho m Illinois m Indiana m Iowa m Kansas m Kentucky m Louisiana m Maine m Maryland m Massachusetts m Michigan m Minnesota m Mississippi m Missouri m Montana m Nebraska m Nevada m New Hampshire m New Jersey m New Mexico m New York m North Carolina

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m North Dakota m Ohio m Oklahoma m Oregon m Pennsylvania m Puerto Rico m Rhode Island m South Carolina m South Dakota m Tennessee m Texas m Utah m Vermont m Virginia m Washington m West Virginia m Wisconsin m Wyoming m I do not reside in the United States

Is this your primary residence? m Yes m No

Are you? m Male m Female

What is your age? m Under 5 m 5 - 10 m 11 - 15 m 16 - 20 m 21 - 25 m 26 - 30 m 31 - 35 m 36 - 40 m 41 - 45 m 46 - 50 m 51 - 55 m 56 - 60 m 61 - 65

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m 66 - 70 m 71 - 75 m 76 - 80 m 81 - 85 m Over 85

Which of the following describes your race/ethnicity? m White/Caucasian m Black/African American m Asian m Hispanic or Latino m Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander m Native American or Alaskan Native m Mixed Race m Other ____________________

What is your marital status? m Never Married m Married m Domestic Partnership m Civil Union m Separated m Divorced m Widowed

What is the highest level of education you have attained? m Did not earn High School Diploma or GED m High School graduate / GED m Associates Degree m Bachelor's Degree m Master's Degree m Doctoral Degree

What is your current occupation? m Professional/technical m Manager/proprietor m Clerical m Sales m Crafts/trades m Laborer m Service worker m Retired

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m Homemaker m Student m Unemployed m Other ____________________

How did you learn about the Mayberry Days Festival? m Magazine m TV m Newspaper m Billboard m Internet m Radio m Travel Association m Word of Mouth m Brochure m Mayberry Fan Club (TAGSRWC) m Other ____________________

What age groups are in your traveling party? (please type number of people beside corresponding numbers) q 0-10 ____________________ q 11-20 ____________________ q 21-30 ____________________ q 31-40 ____________________ q 41-50 ____________________ q 51-60 ____________________ q 61-70 ____________________ q Above 70 ____________________

Is this your first time to the Mayberry Days Festival? m Yes m No

How many times in your lifetime have you attended the Mayberry Days Festival? What days did you attend the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival? (check all that apply) q Thursday, September 23 q Friday, September 24 q Saturday, September 25 q Sunday, September 26

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Length of Stay m Surry County Resident m Day Trip m 1 Night m 2 Nights m 3 Nights or more

Where did you stay? m Own Residence m Friends/Family m Hotel/Motel m Bed and Breakfast m Camping Site m Other ____________________

Did you visit the Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce during your visit? m Yes m No

What activities did you participate in during the Mayberry Days Festival? (check all that apply) q Mayor's Proclamation q Mrs. Wiley's Tea Party q Pickleland q Opie's Playground q Little Blue Choo Choo q Mayberry Days Parade q WBMUTBB Silent Auction q Mayberry Days Chapel q Mayberry Days Golf Banquet q Mayberry Days Golf Tournament q Mayberry Minutemen Youth TAGS Trivia Contest q Mayberry Days TAGS Trivia Contest q Chester Jones Checkers Tournament q Horseshoes q Pork Chop Sandwich Eating Contest q Mr. Tucker Apple Peeling Contest q Pie Eating Contest q Mayberry Idle/Talent Contest q Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Jam Sessions q The Doug Dillard Band Concert q Vendor Booths (crafts,art,authors) q Colonel Tim's Talent Time

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q NC State BBQ Championship q Professor Neal Brower Lecture/TAGSRWC Annual Meeting q An Afternoon with James Best Show q Screenings of TAGS Episodes with Stars q VW Boys "Salute To Mayberry" q Michael Hoover's "Memories of Elvis" q Karen Knotts in "Tied up in Knotts" q Vessels of Clay Concert q Bobby Osborne and Rocky Top X-Press q Band of Oz q Autograph Signings of the TAGS Stars q Andy Griffith Museum q Mayberry Amped: The Rafe Hollister Band

Did you (or a member of your festival party) have your picture taken with a Mayberry/Andy Griffith Show star and/or character look-alike? m Yes m No

Would you like to attend the Mayberry Days Festival next year? m Yes m No

How satisfied are you with the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival? m Very Satisfied m Satisfied m Somewhat Satisfied m Neutral m Somewhat Dissatisfied m Dissatisfied m Very Dissatisfied

Did you watch The Andy Griffith Show as a child? m Yes m No

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How often do you currently watch The Andy Griffith Show? m Never m Less than Once a Month m Once a Month m 2-3 Times a Month m Once a Week m 2-3 Times a Week m Daily

How influential is The Andy Griffith Show on your visit to the Mayberry Days Festival? m 5: Extremely Influential m 4 m 3 m 2 m 1: Not at all Influential

What is it about the Mayberry Days Festival that motivated you to attend? (click all that apply) q The Andy Griffith Show q Visiting family and/or friends q Attend small town activities q Festival Atmosphere q To walk the streets that Andy Griffith walked q Step "back in time" q Character look-alikes q Share stories with The Andy Griffith Show fans q Stars from The Andy Griffith Show q Music Concerts

What does Mayberry mean to you? How many hours did you spend at the Mayberry Days Festival (for the entire festival)? Were your expectations of the Mayberry Days Festival met? m 5: Extremely met m 4 m 3 m 2 m 1: Not at all met

What were your expectations?

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While at the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival, did you shop at any local businesses? m Yes m No

What did you purchase while you were in town? (check all that apply) q Event Tickets q Andy Griffith/Mayberry Themed Souvenirs q Haircut by "Floyd the Barber" q Squad Car Tour q Pork Chop Sandwich from Snappy Lunch q Antiques/Collectibles/Crafts q Mount Airy Souvenirs q Local Wine q N.C. State Championship Barbecue

How much money did you spend during your visit at the 2010 Mayberry Days Festival? $0 -

50 $51-100

$101-125

$126-175

$176-250

$250-350

$351-450

$451-550

$551-above

As an Individual m m m m m m m m m

As a Travel Party

m m m m m m m m m

Please rank the below activities/places in Mount Airy that are of most interest to you (drag the number box on the right of each question to put list in proper order): ______ Wally's Service Station/ Squad Car Tours ______ Mount Airy Museum of Regional History ______ The Andy Griffith Playhouse ______ Floyd's City Barber Shop ______ The Andy Griffith Museum ______ Snappy Lunch ______ Visitor's Center/Chamber of Commerce ______ The Andy Griffith Homeplace ______ Granite Quarry ______ Carolina Zip-lines/Canopy Tour ______ Yadkin Valley Wine Tour ______ Siamese Twins Exhibit ______ Gift Shops

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Overall, how would you rate these parts of Mount Airy? Excellent Good Fair Poor Don't Know

Parking and Streets m m m m m

Street Signs m m m m m Festival Signage m m m m m

Residential Neighborhoods m m m m m

Accommodations m m m m m Shopping on Main Street m m m m m

Restaurants m m m m m Law

Enforcement m m m m m

Recycling m m m m m Friendliness of

locals m m m m m

General Appearance m m m m m

Based on your experience of the Mayberry Days Festival, do you think Mount Airy is a nice place to live? m Yes m No

What was your gross income for 2009? m under $25,000 m $25,000 - $29,999 m $30,000 - $34,999 m $35,000 - $39,999 m $40,000 - $49,999 m $50,000 - $59,999 m $60,000 - $84,999 m Over $85,000

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Would you be willing to participate in an interview about how your interest in the Andy Griffith Show influenced you to attend the Mayberry Days Festival? Your response will remain anonymous. If yes please provide your email address below Thank you for your participation of this survey. If you would like more information on the Center for Sustainable Tourism or The Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce & Mount Airy Visitors Center please visit the below websites: www.SustainableTourism.org www.VisitMayberry.com

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Appendix D: Mayberry Days Festival Map

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LOST IN MAYBERRY/MOUNT AIRY: IMPORTANCE OF TOURIST … · 2017. 8. 26. · LOST IN MAYBERRY/MOUNT AIRY: IMPORTANCE OF TOURIST PROFILES IN SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PLANNING by Stefanie

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